This exhibit is closed. Please come back for APOLLO, reopening in November, 2019
SEATTLE, Jan. 11, 2019—Tickets are now on sale for the Museum’s signature exhibition of 2019, Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission. Its centerpiece is Apollo 11’s historic command module, Columbia, the iconic spacecraft that brought Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the Moon and back. The exhibition will be on view April 13-Sept. 2 (media preview April 11), and includes special programs and a weekend festival during the July 20 50th anniversary of the Moon landing. Tickets are $10 plus Museum admission, and special pricing for Museum Members. There will also be several free community days for Destination Moon (the dates to be announced).
“The Museum is honored to work with the Smithsonian to host this historic exhibition during the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 11’s flight,” said Matt Hayes, The Museum of Flight President and CEO. “We look forward to celebrating Apollo 11 with the global community, and especially with our neighbors in the Northwest—some of whom helped get us to the Moon, and now there’s a new generation of space explorers based right here.”
The challenge of putting the first steps on the Moon moved a nation during the 1960s, and Apollo’s legacy now inspires today’s spaceflight adventurers. The exhibition takes you back with original Apollo 11-flown objects, interactives and unique artifacts from the Space Race. Only here will you experience them during Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary. And along the way, you too will feel reason to celebrate the beginning of today’s New Space Age.
In its only West Coast appearance, Destination Moon will feature special programs throughout the run of the exhibition, plus a weekend festival during the July 20 50th anniversary of the “giant leap” for humanity. The exhibition includes more than 20 one-of-a-kind artifacts from the Smithsonian, many flown on the historic mission, plus dozens of NASA and Russian spaceflight additions from the Museum’s renowned collection.
Highlighting the exhibition is the historic NASA Apollo 11 command module, Columbia. Visitors can see the spaceship up close like never before, and can explore its intricate interior with an interactive 3-D tour created from the Smithsonian’s high-resolution scans.
The Smithsonian’s Destination Moon exhibition is enhanced with The Museum of Flight’s own Space Race displays with rare objects like a Soviet Sputnik satellite, early cosmonaut spacesuit and long-lost remains of the rocket engines that boosted Apollo 12 and Apollo 16 to the Moon. Also unique is a gallery about the legacy of Seattle-area industry, astronauts and engineers to the space program.
Family experiences include Augmented Reality Moon walks, spaceflight interactives and an indoor playground with a full-scale, hands-on command module.
The Museum is the final location for Destination Moon, capping a two-year tour to four museums by the National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. This Destination Moon tour marks the first time the Apollo 11 command module Columbia has left the National Air and Space Museum since the museum opened to the public in 1976. Before entering the collection, the command module traveled on a 50-state tour throughout 1970 and 1971 covering more than 26,000 miles. It then went on display in the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building before the current National Air and Space Museum was built on the National Mall.
Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission is made possible by the support of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, Joe Clark, Bruce R. McCaw Family Foundation, the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, John and Susann Norton, and Gregory D. and Jennifer Walston Johnson. Transportation services for Destination Moon are provided by FedEx.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Ted Huetter/Senior Public Relations Manager
T: 206.768.7105 C: 206.455.5360 Email: thuetter@museumofflight.org
Image:
Apollo 11 command module Columbia on temporary cradle.
Credit: Photo by Eric Long, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
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Founded in 1965, the independent, nonprofit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, serving 600,000 visitors annually. The Museum's collection includes more than 160 historically significant airplanes and spacecraft, from the first fighter plane (1914) to today's 787 Dreamliner. Attractions at the 20-acre, 5-building Seattle campus include the original Boeing Company factory, the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer and the only exhibit of the rocket engines used to launch Apollo astronauts to the Moon. With a foundation of aviation history, the Museum is also a hub of news and dialogue with leaders in the emerging field of private spaceflight ventures. The Museum's aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast. More than 150,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum's onsite and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2019 Museum admission for adults is $25. Youth 5 through 17 are $16, youth 4 and under are free. Seniors 65 and over $21. Groups of ten or more: $19 per adult, $12 per youth, $17 per senior. Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission is admission plus $10. Thanks to Wells Fargo, on the first Thursday of every month, admission is free from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. And parking is always free. There is a full lunch menu café in the Museum and a limited menu café in the Aviation Pavilion, both operated by McCormick & Schmick's. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org.
Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission is organized by the National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The exhibition is made possible by the support of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, Joe Clark, Bruce R. McCaw Family Foundation, the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, John and Susann Norton, and Gregory D. and Jennifer Walston Johnson. Transportation services for Destination Moon are provided by FedEx.
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for 65 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science, and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit sites.si.edu.
The National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Attendance at both buildings combined exceeded 9 million in 2016, making it the most visited museum in America. The museum’s research, collections, exhibitions and programs focus on aeronautical history, space history and planetary studies. Both buildings are open from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. every day (closed Dec. 25).
Visit online at airandspace.si.edu/DestinationMoon.
