On the weekend of July 20th, a full moon coincided with the 55th anniversary of the first lunar landing, a historic event that took place in July 1969. In celebration, various events were held to honor the Apollo 11 mission. The San Diego Air and Space Museum hosted a gala on Saturday night, featuring 94-year-old Buzz Aldrin, the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew, who was joined by Charlie Duke, who communicated with the Apollo 11 crew during the moon landing. The museum’s president, Jim Kidrick, emphasized the importance of celebrating this momentous occasion on its exact anniversary. Other notable celebrations included activities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, near the original launch site, and Houston’s Johnson Space Center, home to Mission Control during the Apollo missions.

In addition to physical events, a new film titled “Fly Me to the Moon,” starring Scarlett Johansson, offered a lighthearted retrospective on the lunar landing. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum created a special website dedicated to Apollo 11, providing extensive information and resources. Armstrong’s spacesuit, restored for the 50th anniversary in 2019, was on display at the museum in Washington, D.C., along with the return capsule. A museum in Alameda, California, hosted a splashdown party to commemorate the retrieval of the Apollo 11 crew and their capsule from the Pacific Ocean. Looking forward, NASA plans to send four astronauts around the moon next year as part of the Artemis program, with future missions aiming for a lunar landing no earlier than 2026.