All Stories

As the Museum celebrates the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, we also celebrate some of the unique pieces of memorabilia created to mark that human achievement. In addition to the pins, patches, buttons, medals, matchbooks, sweatshirts, and commemorative plates the Smithsonian holds in the national collection, this unique ladies handbag is one of my favorites.

Spacesuit curator Cathleen Lewis explains Neil Armstrong's quote appears the way it does in the case of Neil Armstrong's spacesuit.

Before returning Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit to display in time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, it underwent extensive conservation and a state-of-the-art display case and mannequin was designed to protect it while on display.

Working with the museum, the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office 3D scanned Neil Armstrong's spacesuit, helmet, and gloves. The resulting 3D models, which have been fully annotated by the suit’s curator and conservator, are now available.

In part two of Walking on the Moon, we’re talking about the important science still happening with Apollo Moon rocks here on Earth a half-century later. 

When early astronauts traveled into space, and in this case, the Moon, lives depended on communications equipment that kept them in contact at all times with those stationed on Earth, like this "Snoopy Cap" communications carrier.

The NASA Art Program played an important role in representing the excitement and public interest in early spaceflight missions like Apollo 11. As we look back at key moments from the historic missions, we do so not only through photographs and oral histories, but through the eyes of artists as well.　

As we approach the 50th anniversary of humankind’s first steps on the Moon, our ability to reflect on those events is thanks in part to how the moment was shared with people around the world. The Apollo 11 mission was not the first time television signals returned from the orbit of the Moon, but the landing in July 1969 was by far the most important to get just right.

Bob Gilruth, more than anyone else, created the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs and the Houston center that managed them.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin was the first astronaut to receive a degree of Doctor of Science (Sc.D). We explore his thesis on “Line-of-Sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous.”