40th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon

Apollo 11 Celebration

16 July, 09

Children of all ages huddled at the entrance of the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, building rockets out of empty soda bottles and paper. They were celebrating a milestone that awed the world exactly 40 years ago on July 20—the landing of Apollo 11 and its crew on the moon. The children’s excitement at making miniature “moon rockets” reinforced the significance of the 1969 achievement; even now, four decades later, in a time when technology advances miles by the day, the triumph of Apollo 11 continues to inspire.

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“The Space Centre is about educating in a more engaging way than sitting in a classroom,” said director of development and marketing, Tracy Cromwell. As families are the centre’s primary “learning unit”, the rocket-building brought parents and children to both play and learn together. The activity taught a lesson reminiscent of high school physics—Newton’s Third law of Motion. To see Newton’s Law in action, the youngsters used a bicycle pump to fill their bottle rockets with pressurized air. They then pulled a cord that released the pressurized air (the action), and pushed the rockets upwards and away (the equal and opposite reaction). In watching their rockets shoot into the sky on that sunny July afternoon, the children experienced a version of Apollo 11’s take off firsthand.

In the foyer, visitors were ushered into “Welcome to the Moon,” a small, inflatable dome large enough for about 6-8 people. In this mini-planetarium visitors watched a digital simulation of the lunar landing site. The quiet, dark, and star-filled sky gave visitors a taste of the world encountered by man for the first time 40 years before. At the entrance to the space centre galleries, visitors shared a festive cake depicting the moon and a footprint that marked the mission’s “leap for mankind”. Ms. Cromwell cut the cake at 1:18 pm, to mark the exact moment astronauts Neil (correct) Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins successfully landed on the “Sea of Tranquility”. Inside the display entrance, the centre played an audio of the actual Apollo mission.

Cameron Conin, director of public programming, felt it necessary to bring the Apollo 11 experience to life because “it’s important that the younger generations [that didn’t witness it first hand] look back in awe”. Mr. Conin referred to the centre’s usual audience of youngsters aging 6-12 as the “Martian Generation”, who in 20 or 30 years make the big decisions about the exploration of Mars. Mr. Conin stated that centre strives not only to educate, but also to “inspire [these] young minds” that are the future of space exploration.

The event honored the history of moon travel through the display, “Moon Exploration: Past, Present and Future”. Created by Nick Proach Models, a BC company, the display featured detailed models of crafts that have taken man to the moon. Models included the current space shuttle, the new generation Ares I manned launcher, the next generation Constellation program Ares I and V rockets, the Orion Spacecraft, and a depiction of the “Sea of Tranquility”, the smooth patch of moon surface Apollo 11 chose as its lunar landing site. The models will remain on display through the end of September.

To close the Apollo 11 birthday celebration, Dr. Jaymie Matthews, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of British Columbia spoke on “Did We Really Land On the Moon?—Why the Conspiracy Theories Falter”. His lecture cited theories that Apollo 11 was a hoax and, in the words of Mr. Conin, “debunked them using science, which is the best way.”

Canada currently has two astronauts in space, Julie Payette and Robert Thirsk . Months of work in the space station made Thirsk, a New Westminster native, crave a meal from home. He asked Ms. Payette to bring him smoked salmon on her way up, and Seachange Savories was happy to provide the treat. The BC company donated salmon pate and smoked salmon for the Space Centre’s day-long celebration; adding both a tasty dimension and a focus on Canadian accomplishments to the event.

U.S. Consulate General staff joined the space centre’s celebration. The United States and Canada, like in the fields of government and commerce, are partners in exploring “the final frontier”. In the words of Minister Counselor Linda Cheatham, Apollo 11 still has “relevance and resonance for all of us—…especially Americans and Canadians—as our compatriots…orbit the earth together” (read more here).

For historical information about Apollo 11, visit:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo11

For agency resources, Apollo multimedia features and multimedia about the program and history of human spaceflight, visit NASA’s 40th Anniversary Website at:
http://www.nasa.gov/apollo40th

More on the Apollo 11 celebration - Nick Proach.