Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Presents “Apollo at the Park”
The National Air and Space Museum has announced Apollo at the Park, an exciting program that will display full-sized statues of Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit in 15 Major League ballparks across the country, as part of the museum’s nationwide celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. America’s national pastime meets history’s greatest adventure June 4 when the first statue will be unveiled at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The other 14 suits will appear in ballparks soon after.
Apollo at the Park will celebrate the energy Americans felt when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon,” said Ellen Stofan, John and Adrienne Mars Director of the museum. “Baseball ballparks are the perfect venues for new generations to learn more about that summer night July 20, 1969, and they allow us to celebrate Apollo’s 50th across the country.”
Armstrong’s spacesuit was conserved and digitized thanks to funding from a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015 and will go back on display for the first time in 13 years at the museum July 16. The statues at ballparks will be created using the Smithsonian’s 3-D scan of the spacesuit and made of a blend of rigid resin for strength and durability for outdoor display, and hand painted.
Participating ballparks:
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SunTrust Park - Atlanta Braves |
Target Field - Minnesota Twins |
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Fenway Park - Boston Red Sox |
Yankee Stadium - New York Yankees |
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Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs |
PNC Park - Pittsburgh Pirates |
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Great American Ball Park - Cincinnati Reds |
Oracle Park - San Francisco Giants |
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Progressive Field - Cleveland Indians |
T-Mobile Park - Seattle Mariners |
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Coors Field - Colorado Rockies |
Tropicana Field - Tampa Bay Rays |
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Comerica Park - Detroit Tigers |
Nationals Park - Washington Nationals |
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Minute Maid Park - Houston Astros |
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Several clubs will host Apollo-themed events in conjunction with the Apollo at the Park program. The museum and the Washington Nationals will host “Apollo Night” July 5 with Apollo activities, stargazing and a limited distribution of an exclusive Apollo at the Park T-shirt. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Each suit statue will have an interactive component where fans can use their phone cameras to scan parts of the suit, including the Apollo 11 patch, NASA logo, American flag and glove patch, to access videos and additional information about the Apollo 11 mission, astronauts and the anniversary. Fans are also encouraged to share photos of themselves with the suit by using the hashtag #SnaptheSuit. Many of the photos will appear on the museum’s Apollo at the Park webpage: https://airandspace.si.edu/apollo-park.
For more information about all the museum’s Apollo anniversary plans and Apollo historical content, visit https://airandspace.si.edu/apollo50.
Support for the museum’s Apollo at the Park program is provided by The Hillside Foundation—Allan and Shelley Holt.
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. Washington, D.C. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Virginia, near Washington Dulles International Airport. Both facilities are open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free, but there is a $15 fee for parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center.
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SI-184-2019
