WAPAKONETA — The Armstrong Air & Space Museum will be celebrating the 49th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 21-22 with NASA astronauts Don Thomas and Robert Springer as well as other special guests and weekend long activities.
The astronauts will help kick off the festivities by declaring the start to the annual Run to the Moon 10K, 5K and 1 mile runs beginning at the museum at 8 a.m on July 21. Astronaut Robert Springer will also be giving a presentation in the museum’s Astro Theater at 2 p.m., followed by a presentation by Don Thomas at 3:30 p.m. Autograph sessions with both astronauts will be held in between presentations in the Modern Space Gallery, located in the south wing of the museum.
Outside the museum, there will be entertainment for all ages. On Saturday, see the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery’s Animals Alive! program, Imagination Station: Extreme Science Demos, Star Wars characters, the Moon Pie eating contest and kids trivia. The Lost in Space Robot will also be joining visitors inside the museum.
On Sunday, the Toledo Zoo will feature their Zooper Challenge program, followed by Magician Russo’s Bent Reality show. Inside the Astro Theater, astronaut Don Thomas will have a second presentation at 1:00 p.m. The festival will come to a close with the Lima Area Concert Band in the pavilion at 7:00 p.m.
Both days of the festival will include rocket launches by local clubs of the National Association of Rocketry, science demos by the Armstrong Air & Space Museum, outdoor inflatables, face painting, a DJ, LEGO building and a mini golf course. Visitors will also have the opportunity to share their stories about how they have been inspired by space exploration through participating in this year’s oral history project.
For the full schedule, visit armstrongmuseum.org/armstrong_events.
The Armstrong Air & Space Museum stands as a repository of Ohio’s aeronautical history and a monument to Ohio’s contribution to aviation and space exploration from the early pioneer days through the space shuttle era. See a moon rock, two full-sized aircraft flown by Neil Armstrong, the Gemini VIII space capsule, two of Neil Armstrong’s spacesuits, artifacts from the Apollo 11 mission and more.
