UTA to Celebrate Moon Landing With ‘Mooniversary' Party

On July 20, 1969, the world was mesmerized as it watched the crew of the Apollo 11 space mission land safely on the surface of the moon.

This week -- almost 50 years later -- the world prepares to celebrate that historic achievement and you don't have to travel to space, or even out of North Texas, to take part.

The Planetarium at the University of Texas at Arlington will host an all-day "Mooniversary" event on Saturday.

Multiple moon-related shows will play inside the dome of the planetarium throughout the afternoon.

There will also be a host of other activites, including lectures on the lasting impacts of the moon landing (Did you know that it's because of the Apollo missions that we have tempered glass, cordless power tools, and wireless communication today?).

"People are still excited about it," said Dr. Manfred Cuntz, who teaches astrophysics at UTA. "You have a lot of talk now about going back to the moon -- and even going to Mars. It was an important event. The discussion about the future of the space program endures."

"That will be a good education for the younger generations about what happened," said Levent Gurdemir, Director of the Planetarium. "And also what we can envision for the future. If we keeping pushing this frontier and challenge ourselves and go beyond those challenges, that will bring comfort to our lives."

"Mooniversary" will run from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the planetarium, which is located at 700 Planetarium Place in Arlington.

Admission is $10 per person. Free parking will be available in Lot F10, which is located at the corner of Mitchell and West streets.

To purchase tickets or to view the full schedule of events, visit the UTA Planetarium website.

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