Times Square
Apollo 50th Celebration of the People’s Moon
Tranquility is not a word normally associated with this neighborhood, but that will change with this free event, which intends to transform Duffy Square into Tranquility Base, site of the lunar landing. Presented by the Aldrin Family Foundation — as in Buzz Aldrin — in partnership with “The People’s Moon,” an online project by the British artist Helen Marshall, the festival will turn the pavement into a giant mosaic featuring Neil Armstrong’s lunar boot print overlaid with photos collected from spaceflight enthusiasts around the world. Children can meet two former NASA astronauts and see robotics and other educational demonstrations take place on giant maps of the moon and Mars. Or you can just relive Apollo 11 with the help of enormous overhead screens, which will show footage of the launch and the landing.
Saturday from 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; aldrinfoundation.org
Cradle of Aviation Museum
Moon Fest and Countdown Celebration
Why not celebrate the space program where much of it began? This Long Island museum has an extensive collection of artifacts from the Apollo missions, whose lunar modules were designed and built at what was then the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in Bethpage, N.Y. The daytime festival will offer opportunities to explore Apollo 11 in virtual reality, look through solar telescopes, drive lunar rovers around an obstacle course, meet two former shuttle astronauts and see “Apollo 11: First Steps Edition,” the Imax version of Todd Douglas Miller’s recent documentary. The evening party will recreate a 1969 living room, where guests can watch Apollo 11 footage, dance to a band playing the era’s hits and count down to that first step. (Wear your ’60s best.)
Apollo at 50 Moon Fest (Saturday from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.) and Apollo at Countdown Celebration (Saturday from 7-11 p.m.), Charles Lindbergh Boulevard, Garden City, New York; 516-572-4066, cradleofaviation.org
New York Hall of Science
Apollo, a Party!
Even the music will have a space theme at these festivities. The Amateur Astronomers Association of New York will bring telescopes for stargazing, and the museum, which will also show “Apollo 11: First Steps Edition,” will offer model rocket and robotics activities for children. If you’re interested in the spaceflights of the future, try Escape the Planet!, an escape-room adventure devised by theater director Andrew Scoville and astronomer Moiya McTier, who will both attend the celebration, along with other scientists and designers. “Above and Beyond: The Ultimate Flight Exhibition,” on view through Sept. 8, includes a mock ascent to space and an augmented-reality experience evoking the challenges of flying to Mars.
Saturday from 7-10 p.m., 4701 111th St., Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens; 718-699-0005, nysci.org
Paley Center for Media
50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Screenings
These are rare free opportunities to see both the real Buzz Aldrin (onscreen) and actor Bryan Cranston portraying him. Each day will include two showings of the first 52 minutes of the moon walk, from Neil Armstrong’s first step to the placement of the American flag. The 1979 NBC special “The Day They Landed: July 20, 1969” includes interviews with all three Apollo 11 astronauts, and the 1979 ABC special “Infinite Horizons: Space Beyond Apollo” presents a look at the future hosted by author Ray Bradbury. The center will also screen a segment of HBO’s Emmy-winning 1998 mini-series “From the Earth to the Moon,” in which Cranston blasts off.
Saturday and Sunday from 12:15-5:15 p.m., 25 W. 52nd St., Manhattan; 212-621-6600, paleycenter.org
The Intrepid Museum
Apollo at 50
The Intrepid focuses on both actual spaceflight and flights of fancy. Its “Apollo 11: Media, the Moon and Beyond,” an installation through Sept. 3, features period televisions showing archived mission news reports. Friday evening, a free Astronomy Night, will offer stargazing; an outdoor screening of “First Man,” Damien Chazelle’s feature starring Ryan Gosling as an enigmatic Neil Armstrong; and a talk by Noah Petro, a NASA scientist. On both Friday and Saturday, members of the space-enabled research group of the MIT Media Lab will present “Earthrise: A 50 Year Contemplation,” a pop-up installation intended to inspire the same awe-struck response astronauts had to the famous image of Earth captured during Apollo 8. “Giant Leaps,” a planetarium show on Saturday, will trace technological progress. The celebration ends with “To the Moon With the Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company,” an evening show of history and humor for adults, with guests including comedian Lauren Adams and former astronaut Mike Massimino.
Friday and Saturday at various times, Pier 86, West 46th Street and 12th Avenue, Manhattan; 877-957-7447, intrepidmuseum.org
American Museum of Natural History
SpaceFest
How can you not be intrigued by a museum that has a director of astrovisualization? Or by a festival whose astrovisualizers include performance artist Laurie Anderson? This daylong event will include the U.S. premiere of “To the Moon,” a 15-minute virtual-reality experience in which Anderson and artist Hsin-Chien Huang chart a lunar journey that draws on Greek mythology, literature, science, film and even politics. (Although “To the Moon,” which continues through July 28, is close to sold out, the museum will make additional slots available each day, first come first served. Spaces remain Sunday for a discussion about the work that will feature Anderson.) At SpaceFest, Carter Emmart, who has that exciting astrovisualization job title, will use data-visualization software from NASA to present a complete model of Apollo 11’s journey. You can also experience the sun in an immersive video installation, watch demonstrations of extraterrestrial volcanoes and embark on virtual-reality explorations of NASA spacecraft and models. Young space enthusiasts can look forward to children’s book readings, portable-planetarium shows and themed performances by the Story Pirates.
Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Central Park West at 79th Street, Manhattan; 212-769-5200, amnh.org
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.