Destination Moon-Smithsonian Poster Exhibit

On July 24, 1969, Apollo 11 met President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 challenge of “landing a man
on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” The poster exhibition Destination Moon:
The Apollo 11 Mission explores what led the United States to accept this challenge and how the
resulting 953,054-mile voyage to the Moon and back was accomplished just eight years after
the program was authorized. Destination Moon examines the mission and recognizes the
sacrifices and devotion of more than 400,000 people employed in NASA programs who worked
through the trials, tragedies and triumphs of the 20 missions from 1961 to 1969 before Apollo
11.
Fifty years later, the Apollo program remains the benchmark for great national achievement.
When Apollo 11 landed on the Moon and humans first set foot on another celestial body, it
gave humanity a new perspective from which to view ourselves. Using this poster exhibition,
viewers will be able to look back at this historic mission, and hopefully envision the next
generation of innovators, scientists, explorers and astronauts.
Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission Poster Exhibition is based on a traveling exhibition of the same name,
developed by the National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The
exhibition is made possible by the support of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, Joe Clark, Bruce R. McCaw Family
Foundation, the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, John and Susann Norton, and Gregory D. and
Jennifer Walston Johnson