To commemorate the anniversary, the UA is hosting a public celebration, featuring lectures, children's activities, solar telescope viewing and opportunities to meet UA science luminaries.
July 20 marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's arrival on the moon, an achievement with several ties to The University of Arizona.
To commemorate the "giant leap for mankind," the UA's Lunar Planetary Laboratory is hosting a public celebration of Apollo 11's landing on the moon – featuring lectures, children's science activities, solar telescope viewing, movie screenings and opportunities to meet UA science luminaries who contributed to numerous Apollo missions.
The celebration takes place Saturday, July 18, from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Kuiper Space Sciences Building on the UA campus.
Three UA scientists involved in Apollo missions will be on hand and available to speak with visitors:
Ewen Whitaker, who had a key role in conducting photo analysis to determine the lunar landing site for the Apollo 12 mission. Bob Strom, a member of the Lunar Operations Working Group for the Apollo 8, 10 and 11 missions, who most recently was called back to service to help with NASA's MESSENGER mission to Mercury. Spencer Titley, a retired professor of geosciences who was involved in regional mapping of the moon and mapping of the landing sites for the Ranger, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 missions. Strom also will be the featured speaker, delivering a lecture, "40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Lunar Landing," at 7 p.m.
Other activities include:
Children's Programming (Kuiper 330, 2-5 p.m.)
The National Optical Astronomy Observatory will host four moon-based children's activities.(Kuiper 351, 2-5 p.m.)
Liquid nitrogen ice cream (Kuiper 4th floor atrium, 2-5 p.m.)
Story time with the Tucson Space Society (Kuiper 450, 2:30-3:30 p.m.)
Lectures
Shane Burne, assistant professor of planetary sciences, "Origin and Geology of the Moon," (Kuiper 308, 2:30-3 p.m.)
J. Terry White, White Eagle Aerospace, "Apollo Remembered," (Kuiper 308, 3:30-5 p.m.)
James V. Scotti, senior research scientist at the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, "Where did Neil Armstrong leave his backpack?'' (Kuiper 308, 6-6:50 p.m.)
Robert G. Strom, professor emeritus at the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, "40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Lunar Landing,'' (Kuiper 308, 7-7:50 p.m.)
Telescope Viewing (UA Mall, 2-8 p.m., weather permitting)
Movies (Kuiper 312, 2-5 p.m.)
Displays (Kuiper Atrium, 2-8 p.m.)
Q&A with UA Scientists (Kuiper Atrium, 2-5 p.m.)
Organizations supporting the event include:
The event is sponsored by the Arizona Daily Star.
All events are free and open to the public and free parking is available in the Cherry Street Garage and other surface lots on the UA campus.
(www.eduwo.com, Jainlyn&Charlotte)
