TECH

The Apollo 11 capsule is going on an American road trip

Doyle Rice

USA TODAY

David Skorton, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (left) chats with General J.R. "Jack" Dailey, the Director of the National Air and Space Museum at a press conference announcing the national tour of "Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission." The Apollo 11 command module Columbia will temporarily leave the Smithsonian for the first time in 46 years to begin a journey to museums across the country.

CHANTILLY, Va. — One of the most iconic objects in human history — the spacecraft that carried the first men to walk on the moon in 1969 — is going on a road trip.

The command module Columbia will star in a two-year, national tour called "Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission," celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic voyage.

"It represents one of the great achievements of mankind," said Myriam Springuel, the director of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service that runs the tour. "We are privileged to take it across the country and to share it with the people who own this object, which are the citizens of the United States."

The module was the main living area for the three-man crew of astronauts Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong that took them on the nearly 1 million mile journey to the moon and back. It's the only part of the spacecraft that returned to Earth.

The last time the capsule left the Washington area was for a national tour in the early 1970s. It's been on display at the National Air and Space Museum for most of the past 40 years.

"Apollo is such an amazing story and we hope to relight that inspiration in America today," Gen. John Dailey, director of the National Air and Space Museum, said at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on Wednesday. "We could use that in this country right now, that spirit."

The extravehicular visor assembly worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface during the historic Apollo 11 mission in July, 1969.

The tour will begin in October and will stop at four museums in Houston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Seattle. The exhibition will be on display at Seattle's Museum of Flight on the 50th anniversary of the moon landing — July 20, 2019.

"People in those areas can get up close and personal with this unbelievable artifact," said David Skorton, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Just like giant panda Bao Bao earlier this week, the capsule will be shipped via FedEx, the sole transportation sponsor of the exhibit.

About 20 other objects from the Apollo 11 mission will travel with the capsule, including gloves and a visor Aldrin wore on the moon, a star chart used on board the lunar module and a "rock box" that brought back the first samples from the moon's surface.

Visitors to the exhibition will also be able explore an interactive, 3D tour showing the inside and outside of the capsule. Visitors aren't allowed inside the capsule, but the interactive will let them view the famous graffiti Collins scribbled after the mission: "The Best Ship to Come Down the Line ... God Bless Her."