Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the landing of the Eagle on the moon’s surface, and around Houston there will be celebrations and tributes.
Tuesday night Space Center Houston hosts a special screening of “Chasing the Moon,” a three part documentary by Robert Stone, for free, offering viewers another opportunity to watch Neil Armstrong’s decent from the ladder and planting a footprint in the dusty lunar surface. KTRH News asked former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe (2001-2004) to offer perspective on how giant of a leap for mankind the day’s events were.
“There is a profound leap that we have experienced as a consequence of the entire Apollo era, that has accelerated the pace of technology development, of aspirations, of everything,” he says. “It put us in a position that we were easily five decades of where we would have been had this not occurred.”
On Friday in Sugar Land “Celebrating the Moon” at the Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land makes a NASA Ambassador available to discuss NASA’s past and future from 11am to 2pm and 8-11pm.
Former Administrator O’Keefe says NASA’s return to the lunar surface will be key to future explorations as a launching pad for journeys to Mars and beyond. 90% of a rocket’s energy, when launched from earth, is expended escaping the gravitational pull, a factor nullified on the moon.
Friday night Kemah Boardwalk features Stellar Apollo 11 Celebration from 5 to 9:30 pm with commemorations of the 1969 achievement.
NASA will have special programs at Space Center Houston all day Saturday with late-night tram tours, speakers, book signings and more with an outdoor festival concert.