NASA Salutes Legendary Moon Shot on Small Scale

NASA on Saturday celebrated the 25th anniversary of Apollo 11’s liftoff with a countdown replay, with the launch of four model rockets, and without the crew.

The Apollo 11 astronauts declined to attend the morning ceremony and sent regrets for a commemorative dinner. (All three attended the 20th anniversary launch ceremony.)

So instead of the first two men to walk on the moon--Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr.--and their fellow crewman Michael Collins, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration settled for the last man on the moon and one who lost his chance to walk on the lunar surface because of an accident on the way.

More than 500 people gathered for the launch ceremony at the space center, just three miles from where Apollo 11 blasted off at 6:32 a.m. PDT on July 16, 1969. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon.

Many of the celebrators had worked on Apollo 11 and are now retired or in different professions.

At the same time in space, the crew of the shuttle Columbia was informed by Mission Control of the historic moment. The command module of Apollo 11 also was named Columbia.

“Columbia’s journey today, as her namesake did back then, is pushing the frontiers of knowledge and science for all mankind, and we thank you,” Mission Control’s Mario Runco told the seven shuttle astronauts.

Runco then told commander Robert Cabana that the shuttle had been cleared to fire its engines for the moon.

“Don’t we wish,” Cabana said.

This is the first shuttle crew to be in space during an Apollo 11 anniversary.

“It’s pretty amazing that it’s been that long since we walked on the moon,” Cabana said earlier in the flight. “But we hope with the efforts we’re making back here in the lab . . . we think it’s going to pay off, and we think we’re paving the way for future space station operations and hopefully expanding beyond this planet again in our exploration.”

Back on Earth, Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, now an aerospace company executive, stood in for Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins on Saturday just as he did in 1969 as part of the Apollo 11 backup crew. An oxygen tank explosion on his way to the moon in 1970 stole his chance to walk on the lunar surface.

Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, in December, 1972, was the Apollo 11 crew substitute for the Saturday commemorative dinner.

Haise said he expected back then that, after Apollo, humans would return to the moon in his lifetime. He still believes humans will explore the solar system and beyond, “though not as quickly as many of us who are in the autumn of our careers would like to see.”