Cork marks 50th anniversary of moon landing with space-themed mural
Cork is set to boldly go where few cities have gone before to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
A space-themed mural by the European Space Agency’s Living Planet Symposium 2019 artist-in-residence, Shane Sutton, has been unveiled in the city centre and a special 'moon-walk' event is planned between two city landmarks to help people mark NASA’s most celebrated space flight this weekend.
US astronauts Commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, and command module pilot, Michael Collins, blasted off on board a massive Saturn V rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16, 1969.
Four days later, as Collins remained in orbit around the moon in the command module, Armstrong and Aldrin landed the lunar module, the Eagle, on the moon's Sea of Tranquility.
On July 20, 1969, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, with those immortal words:
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
Aldrin joined him on the lunar surface about 20-minutes later.
All three returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific on July 24, having spent eight days in space.
Now, the team at Cork’s CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory have put together a programme of events to mark the historic mission.
Nano Nagle Place on Douglas St and St Peter’s visitor centre on North Main St have been transformed into ‘The Moon’ and ‘The Earth’ respectively for a weekend ‘moon walk’ to allow space fans walk between the two locations on a scaled-down tour that emulates the space flight.
Join us in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission here in Cork! While we close for an RTÉ broadcast, we're bringing the Observatory Experience to the City Centre with our friends at St Peters, Nano Nagle Place, and more! Details here: https://t.co/7SlfTM8bvH pic.twitter.com/74qmkyKdlY
— MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory (@blackrockcastle) July 11, 2019
Participants will start at St Peter’s where they will get a sense of the earthbound element of the Apollo 11 mission, including workshops on what makes rockets work, the challenges faced by the mission control staff, and a planetarium show on the night sky for July.
Children will also be allowed to build their own straw rockets before setting off on the walk, passing city landmarks representing various stages in the lunar mission, to 'land' at Nano Nagle Place for talks about Apollo 11's lunar mission element.
The space exploration-themed mural by award-winning Irish street artist, Shane Sutton, which was funded through Cork City Council’s city centre placemaking fund, has been unveiled at the Cornmarket Centre.
Entitled 'Loves Me, Loves Me Not', the huge piece shows an astronaut plucking daisy petals against a backdrop of deep space.
Big thanks to my @buddy for these 🤘📸 of me painting the last bits on spacer in cork with @blackrockcastle and @walls_project for #Apollo50th celebrations. More: https://t.co/2JMhMwalee pic.twitter.com/QBWxJvjqWv
— Shane Sutton Art (@shanesuttonart) July 12, 2019
Guest speakers including space commentator, Leo Enright, head of CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, Dr Niall Smith and Dr Niamh Shaw, the engineer and scientist bidding to become the first Irish person in space, have also been lined up for talks to mark the anniversary and RTE is broadcasting a live commemorative show from the observatory on Saturday.
Dr Smith said the celebrations are an important reminder of humanity’s most daring and impressive achievement.
“I know that seeing this event live had a deeply profound impact on me, and here at the observatory, we’re hoping that these anniversary celebrations will serve to rekindle that inspirational spirit for a generation that wasn’t lucky enough to see this incredible moment first-hand,” he said.
The observatory will also host a new exhibit from July 22 on the Apollo missions.
