In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, a life-sized presentation of the Saturn V that carried Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins was projected onto the Washington Monument.
The Apollo 50: Go for the Moon event was commissioned by the National Air and Space Museum, sponsored by the Smithsonian Board of Regents, and created by 59 Productions, a multi-discipline design studio. The 110-meter (363-foot) rocket was projected onto the east face of the Washington Monument.
“Our identity as Americans is defined in part by the historic act of landing humans on the moon and returning them safely,” said museum director Ellen Stofan. “The Washington Monument is a symbol of our collective national achievements and what we can and will achieve in the future. It took 400,000 people from across the 50 states to make Apollo a reality. This program celebrates them, and we hope it inspires generations too young to have experienced Apollo first hand to define their own moonshot.”
The projection will be live on July 16, 17 and 18. The event will culminate on July 19 and 20 with a 17-minute presentation that will combine full-motion projection mapping artwork and archival footage to recreate the launch of Apollo 11.
