Apollo Anniversary Celebration
Celebrate the Apollo Moon landing's 50th Anniversary
Join us for a fun-filled daylong celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, both commemorating the past and looking forward to a promising new era of inspiration, innovation, and discovery. With events inside and out, enjoy an array of Moon-related activities.
Note: July 20—Only limited tickets remain for our 3:30 showing of One Giant Leap remain.
5K & Kids Fun Run
Update: Due to weather, both races are cancelled today. The winding 5K course starts at the Bell Museum and runs through the U of M Twin Cities campus in Saint Paul—keep your eye out for the Collections and other CFANS classic buildings that help make the Bell great. After the race concludes, enter kids 12 and under can take on the Space Dash in the field adjacent to the Bell Museum.
Lunar Sample Disk
On loan from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the six-inch disk holds encased lunar rock and soil collected by Apollo astronauts between 1969 and 1972. See bits of ancient lava flows, soil from sites across the Moon, and volcanic ash from a lunar eruption 3.5 billion years ago—all through clear Lucite. Click here to learn about other viewing dates.
One Giant Leap
The Bell Museum’s new original planetarium production runs all summer long, putting audiences on the surface of the Moon with Neil Armstrong by transforming archival recordings of the Moon landing into a 360 experience. Hourly shows begin at 10:30 am and run through 3:30 pm. Advance tickets are available for purchase at bellmuseum.umn.edu/planetariumshows.
NASA artifacts
Get a close look at NASA artifacts like the Teflon-coated pants Commander James McDivitt wore aboard the Apollo 9 Command Module in 1969; a handheld wireless radio that has been to outer space and back; and a other astronaut apparel including a glove, shoe insert, and “Snoopy cap” (official name: Communication Carrier Assembly Hood).