‘Moon Day’ Activities Planned at Museum

The Museum of the Coastal Bend is hosting Moon Day activities Saturday, July 19th, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the first moon landing and Texas' role in space exploration. On that day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., museum visitors are invited to:• Build a model lunar lander to protect two pingpong ball "astronauts" as they fall to the ground.

• Attempt to fit together the parts of the Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo 11 to the moon.

• Discover what NASA was looking for when the space agency considered Victoria as a possible site for a space center.

• Follow a timeline of space milestones like Sputnik to a launch from Matagorda Island.

July 20, 1969, the first words uttered from the moon were: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." This world-changing event was the result of eight years of work across the country and in Texas. The U.S. space program was championed by then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, resulting in the creation of NASA's mission control center in Houston. "When the Apollo 11 astronauts talked to Earth, they were talking to scientists and engineers right in our backyard," Isabel Van Dyke, museum curator of education and public programs, told the Victoria Advocate. "With this program, we want to share that part of Coastal Bend history and bring the moon just a little bit closer to Texas."

Activities are included with the museum's regular pay-what-you-want admission. The museum is located on Victoria College's main campus, 2200 E. Red River St. in Victoria. For more information on Moon Day activities at the museum, contact Van Dyke at 361-582-2559 or email Isabel.VanDyke@VictoriaCollege.edu.