Moon landing 50 years

The exhibition ended on December 30, 2019

The Moon landing is one of the great moments in the history of technology and science. The anniversary exhibition, Moon Landing 50 Years, is the largest exhibition of the year at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology . The exhibition offers a wide range of family activities in addition to telling the story of the space race and the conquest of the Moon. Moon Landing 50 Years also contains objects from NRK's historical collection, which the museum took over in 2018.

pdf For English and Norwegian: Download exhibition catalogue(13.24 MB)

Read what Aftenposten wrote in connection with the opening

Space expert Erik Tandberg opened the exhibition

During the opening on April 11, 2019, space expert Erik Tandberg spoke about why we humans so wanted to go to the Moon.

We relived the night when “everyone” in Norway followed what happened via TV and radio, guided by space expert Erik Tandberg. He talked about the actual moon landing and shared his experiences from when he sat in the NRK studio during the Moon Night and guided Norway through the events.

Benny Borg repeated the entertainment success from Moon Night

Benny Borg was in charge of TV entertainment 50 years ago, together with Kirsti Sparboe. He had his breakthrough during the NRK broadcast Moon Night. So it wasn't just Apollo 11 that took off 50 years ago. Many of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology 's guests at the opening were moved by Fly me to the moon.

– The day after the moonlit night, everyone in Norway knew who I was, says Benny Borg.

After a six-decade career in showbiz, he came to The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology on April 11th.

– I never thought I would come to The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology , 50 years after Moonlight Night, he said during the opening.

World premiere of The Big Bang

Lydkunstverket The Big Bang er spesialbestilt til utstillingen, og før vi fikk høre lyden av den nye installasjonen ble vi presentert for tankene bak verket.

For Dag Andreassen har en guttedrøm blitt oppfylt når han selv kunne ta plass i Apollo 11 og styre The Eagle ned på Månen. Han håper alle museets besøkende vil benytte sjansen til å gjøre det samme.

– Vi håper flest mulig får oppleve utstillingen mens den står på The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology. Hva kan være bedre enn å ta barna med for å reise til månen, spør han.

Månesteinen er utlånt fra NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet.

Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag they brought to the moon. The flag was held up by a crossbar at the top. Photo: NASA.

The crew of Apollo 11, from left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Armstrong was commander, Aldrin was pilot of the lunar landing module Eagle, and Collins was pilot of the service and command module Columbia. All had backgrounds as aviators and test pilots, all were 37 years old, 180 cm tall and 75 kg, married with 2-3 children. Photo: NASA.

Neil Armstrong photographed in the lunar lander after completing the moonwalk. The two were scheduled to rest for five hours before the return trip, but they were unable to sleep. Photo: NASA.

Eagle returns to Columbia. Collins took this photo with Earth in the background just before he had to pull the levers to steer the two spacecraft back together. Photo: NASA.

After the moon landing, the three Apollo heroes were sent on a world tour. In October 1969 they arrived in Oslo. They were cheered by large crowds as they drove from the Storting to lunch at the palace. Facsimile from Aftenposten.

Man on the Moon: This photo is probably the most famous of the 130 photos Neil Armstrong took of the lunar surface. Buzz Aldrin is pictured, but we can see Armstrong in the reflection of his visor. Photo: NASA.

Buzz Aldrin inspects the lunar lander during the three-day journey from Earth to the moon. Photo: NASA.

Gemini was a two-seat spacecraft used for training and development of the technologies needed to reach the Moon. In orbit around the Earth, astronauts practiced maneuvering and docking, endurance, and spacewalks, as seen here where Buzz Aldrin in Gemini 12 tests his spacesuit and spacewalking. Photo: NASA.

The Apollo 11 capsule was the only one to return to Earth. It is now a museum piece at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. In its anniversary year, it is on a touring exhibition in the United States. On the Smithsonian website, 3d.si.edu, you can see the results of detailed photography and scanning of the capsule. Photo: NASA.

In orbit around the moon: Armstrong and Aldrin have taken their seats in the lunar lander Eagle, separated from Columbia and begun their descent to the lunar surface. Photo: NASA.

One small step for a man – one giant leap for mankind. The television image of Neil Armstrong taking the final step down from the lunar lander ladder and onto the surface reached millions of viewers around the world. Photo: NASA.

Gemini was a series of 10 missions between 1964 and 1966. Simultaneous launch of rockets and multiple spacecraft into orbit at the same time was one of the test objectives. Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 met in orbit around the Earth in December 1965. Photo: NASA.

Space Station: After the Americans' moon landing triumph, the Russians returned with another innovation: the world's first space station. Salyut initiated the 1970s effort to build space stations in Earth orbit. It ended with a collaboration between the United States and the Soviet Union and a number of other countries on the International Space Station ISS. Photo: Spacefacts.de

Earthrise: This iconic image of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon is said to have changed the entire human perception of our own planet. It was first seen and photographed by the crew of Apollo 8 in December 1968. Photo: NASA.

In May 1961, US President John F. Kennedy, acting on the advice of NASA, set a bold goal for Americans: to land a man on the moon and return him safely before the end of the decade. Photo: NASA.

Liftoff: The Saturn V rocket with Apollo 11 atop it lifts off on the morning of July 16 from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Photo: NASA.

Liftoff: The Saturn V rocket with Apollo 11 atop it lifts off on the morning of July 16 from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Photo: NASA.

This image of the moon was taken from Apollo 11. Photo: NASA.

Tight space: This shows the crew of Apollo 8 during training in the Apollo capsule. Photo: NASA.

Cosmonaut heroes: The world's first astronaut Yuri Gagarin and the world's first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, stand here in 1963 on the grandstand of honor in Red Square in Moscow with fellow cosmonaut Pavel Popovich, and the leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, Nikita Khrushchev. Photo: Commons, RIA Novosti

China to the Moon: As the anniversary of the moon landing in 2019 approaches, China has made a strong mark as a spacefaring nation. A probe with several payloads landed softly on the far side of the moon. There is a lot of unexplored terrain here, and a small vehicle was among those that brought new knowledge about the moon. Photo: CNSA/CLEP