HOUSTON, July 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — News media are invited to cover NASA’s Johnson Space Center employees celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch on Tuesday, July 16, with a variety of activities honoring the heritage of the first human Moon mission, and looking forward to future missions to the Moon and Mars.

The event is not open to the general public.

Fifty years ago, the team backing Apollo 11 in the Mission Control Center in Houston supported the ascent of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins aboard the Columbia command module atop a Saturn V rocket as their historic journey to the Moon began on July 16, 1969.

“This is an opportunity for our current team of dedicated men and women to celebrate the great accomplishments of Apollo 11,” said Johnson’s Director Mark Geyer. “Apollo captured the world’s attention and demonstrated the power of America’s vision and technology, which inspired this generation that will make the next great leaps in space exploration and scientific discovery.”

Events commemorating that launch begin at 11 a.m. CDT Tuesday and conclude at 2 p.m. U.S. reporters wishing to attend must contact Johnson’s newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. Monday, July 15.

The schedule of events includes (all times CDT):

11-11:30 a.m.:  Apollo Era Car Parade with vehicles from the 1960s and 70s driving across campus, starting at the Gilruth Center, named for Robert R. Gilruth, the center’s first director, and concluding at Building 1, the center’s main administration building.

11:45 a.m.: Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer will speak in front of Building 1, and honor Apollo alumni in attendance.

11:45 a.m.- 2 p.m.: Vintage cars will be displayed in front of Building 1, and employees are invited to dress in their best 1960s attire and stick around for music, moon pies and memories. There will be a costume contest for the best Apollo-era outfit.

During Apollo, NASA’s Houston location was called the Manned Spacecraft Center. The center’s civil service and contractor employees planned, trained and executed Gemini, Apollo, Apollo/Soyuz, Skylab and Space Shuttle missions. The center is the home of the International Space Station Program and supports continuous human research operations on the station. The Orion Program, which is designing and testing the NASA spacecraft that will take humans on its future missions of exploration the Moon and Mars, also makes its home in Houston. NASA and international partner astronauts train at Johnson, as well as astronauts preparing to fly on Commercial Crew Program vehicles provided by SpaceX and Boeing. It was renamed by the U.S. Senate in honor of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.

Learn more about NASA’s Johnson Space Center at:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/

Steep yourself in Apollo history at:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo-11.html

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-invites-media-to-johnson-space-centers-apollo-50th-celebration-300883604.html

SOURCE NASA