Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to honor Apollo 11 crew with bronze memorial
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has announced the creation of a one-of-a-kind bronze statue honoring the crew members of the first Moon landing.
The statue will depict Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, and will be the cornerstone of the new Moon Tree Garden, which will be located outside of the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The statue is a gift to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex from Rocket Mortgage.
The seven-foot-tall bronze statue, set upon a four-foot-tall concrete base, will be created by sculptor George Lundeen of Lundeen Sculpture, as well as George’s brother Mark Lundeen and sculptor Joey Bainer, in Loveland, Colo. The base will have an engraving that honors the Apollo 11 crew and all those who made their spaceflight possible. The statue is expected to be installed at the visitor complex this summer, and officially introduced during the Apollo 11 anniversary celebration this July.
The new Moon Tree Garden will include 12 Moon Trees provided by Rosemary Roosa, daughter of Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, and president and CEO of the non-profit Moon Tree Foundation. The foundation was created in honor of Roosa’s father, who took various tree seeds with him on his space mission.
The seeds, which have all orbited the Moon, were later germinated and planted around the world. Since then, the Moon Tree Foundation continues this effort by planting second-generation “Moon Trees” all over the globe. The 12 trees in the garden will represent each of the crewed Apollo missions to the Moon.
“We are grateful to Rocket Mortgage for bringing this commemorative statue to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as we prepare to mark one of the most important anniversaries in the history of the United States space program,” said Therrin Protze, COO of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. “The dynamic statue is indeed the perfect tribute to these early pioneers who forever changed the history of space and interplanetary travel.”
The new statue will make its debut on July 15, 2019.
To learn more about the Visitor Complex and its events commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, head to KennedySpaceCenter.com.
