The challenge of spaceflight drew upon the best and the brightest of a generation, and was the longest, most public and dramatic drama of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. With unshakeable momentum, the race to take the first steps on the Moon served as a unifying counterpoint to the turbulent 1960s. With NASA’s successful Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969, successfully landed two men on the lunar surface and returned them safely to Earth.
The Center of History and Science exhibition includes black-and-white and color photographs of the historic mission where men from Earth first set foot on the Moon. Also included will be a Lunar Theater where the guests can learn more about the manned moon missions of fifty years ago. Interpretive text, graphics and popular culture artifacts from the period will also be displayed.
In the five decades since the manned missions our Moon has not been forgotten. The exhibition will display amazing, large-scale, high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface taken between 2009 and 2015 by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. These images provide unique visual data to help answer our questions about the Moon's formation, its continuing geological evolution and its relationship to Earth.
Looking forward, the exhibition considers the future of the Moon, when we might return and the potential for a continual presence for humankind on our only natural satellite.
Accompanying the exhibition will be daily presentations in the Koch Immersive Theater of a special planetarium show that which explains further the supreme feat of landing astronauts on the Moon. An interactive planetarium show with the same name as the exhibition will use the unique capabilities of the Museum’s digital planetarium to details our satellites’ unique relationship with Earth, highlight a few of the manned and unmanned missions which proceeded the Moon landings and showcase archival footage of the Apollo missions. Admission to the planetarium show will be complimentary with every paid admission to the Museum.