Apollo 11 anniversaries

Apollo 11 was the first human spaceflight to land on the Moon. In the decades after its 1969 mission took place, widespread celebrations have been held to celebrate its anniversaries.

The Apollo 11 crew, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins, who had not appeared publicly since the 5th anniversary, participated in ceremonies in Washington, D.C., on July 20, 1979.

A model rocket launch, closed to the public due to the explosives involved, occurred at Kennedy Space Center in 1984.

On the 20th anniversary in 1989, President George H. W. Bush announced plans to return to the Moon and then to Mars, known as the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI).

The USPS released a stamp designed by Chris Calle, son of Paul Calle, the artist that designed the Apollo 11 stamp issued in 1969. The $2.40 priority mail stamp depicts two astronauts planting a flag on the Moon. Living people cannot be featured on US stamps, but the faces of the astronauts are obscured by their visors. It was released July 20 at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

On July 16, 1994, NASA held a replay of the countdown and launched scale models of the Saturn rocket. The Apollo 11 astronauts declined to attend. They had attended the event five years prior.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued two stamps, a 29 cent vertical stamp and a $9.95 express mail stamp, to commemorate the anniversary. The 29 cent stamp depicts an astronaut saluting a flag on the Moon; the express mail stamp shows a zoomed-out version of the same scene. They were designed by Paul and Chris Calle. The stamp design was unveiled July 20 by Aldrin in Washington.

The Apollo 11 crew accepted an invitation to the White House on July 21 to celebrate the event. President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and other members of Apollo flight crews were among the attendees.