North Texans celebrate 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing

Hundreds of people went to 'Moon Day' at the Frontiers of Flight Museum to celebrate the day of Apollo 11’s moon landing.

Museum representatives say the Apollo 11 anniversary is typically a busy day for them, but with this year being the 50th anniversary, it brought out even bigger crowds.

People young and old came out to remember this milestone in American history.

“Just the whole idea of going to another planet, going to another object, and landing,” said Kevin Cobble, with the Dallas Astronomical Society.

Cobble was just a 13-year-old at Boy Scout camp when he watched Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon. He stayed up all night listening to the mission on the radio.

Of course, at that time, I would've expected us to be on Mars in five years,” he added. “The fact that we're still not there - hopefully they'll do it before I die.”

Cobble says the moment helped inspire him to pursue a degree in astronomy.

It's also why he's at 'Moon Day' at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, hoping to pass that interest in space onto others.

“It's celebrating Neil Armstrong landing on the moon,” Rylie English said.

English was part of a group of Girl Scouts who came to learn about Apollo 11 and earn their 'Moon Day Badge'.

“It's really exciting because technology has advanced. A long time ago, when technology wasn't advanced, people went to the moon,” Sonika Melacheruvu said.

Many people came out to enjoy the event. From those who weren't around to witness Apollo 11, to those who remember watching the mission as kids.

“That's something a person who has seen it would never forget, it was just almost unbelievable,” said Jess Hall, with the Frontiers of Flight Museum.

Passing on the experience from that moment to the younger generation.

“I think America came together during the 60s to reach this goal,” said Jolan Smoak, who watched the Apollo 11 flight. “It required a lot of ingenuity. It just brought the country together, I think. We were all excited about doing this.”

Museum officials say they usually have around 1,500 visitors on ‘Moon Day,’ but they likely exceeded that number this year and had people lining up outside the museum even before it opened Saturday morning.