In 1969, the whole world was in a frenzy of excitement when the first three humans set foot on the moon. Now, more than 50 years later, it still seems like a remarkable feat. While the anniversary of the actual landing on July 20 has come and gone, the whole month is a time for remembering. It was such a momentous day in history, and it can make you wonder what other kinds of advances in space travel will happen in the future.
Play moon-themed slot games
One way in which people chose to celebrate the anniversary of the moon landing on July 20 was to play moon-themed slot games. One of the best online slots with a moon theme is Full Moon: White Panda. This game is available to play for real money on the betPARX app. Developed by Playtech, it has an RTP of 95.9% and a medium variance.
The pagoda is the highest-paying symbol in the game, and the panda is the scatter. The wild has a normal sun and a red sun. You can activate the Full Moon feature during the free spins game. This game also has four jackpots.
Visit a museum for some space-themed activities
The Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota, has been hosting space-themed activities for the entire month. A planetarium production runs for the whole summer and puts you on the moon’s surface with Neil Armstrong. It transforms archival recordings of the moon landing into a 360 experience. You can see rock and soil collected by Apollo astronauts that are on loan from NASA.
In the education wing, a display case highlights aspects of the space race and the journey to the Moon. In the Solution Studio, you can meet researchers who are working on solving challenges facing the planet. You can get hands-on with creative challenges inspired by research. Many other museums across the country also offer space-themed activities in July.
Watch a Hollywood moon landing
It’s not surprising that the moon landing has inspired many movies. Gather the family, get some popcorn, and watch one of these movies. One of the best ones to watch is the Oscar-nominated movie Hidden Figures. It shows some of the characters behind the moon landing that didn’t receive any publicity at the time.
An African American woman, Katherine Johnson, was the mathematician who did the calculations that made the moon landing possible. She had to understand math to calculate the trajectories for both Apollo 11 and Project Mercury. Without these calculations, the astronauts wouldn’t have been able to get to the moon and back home again.
Map the moon
You may have looked up at the moon many times, but you can know it better when you use a moon map to find some of the features on its face. You don’t even have to have a telescope, as all you need is a clear night.
You can spot craters, moon landing sites, and seas on the moon’s surface. The seas aren’t really seas at all but are large, flat areas created by volcanic eruptions. One of the facts about the moon landing is that the Sea of Tranquility was chosen because it looked smooth and flat. The brighter spots are craters where lunar rocks hit the moon’s surface.
Build your own lunar module
Some of the top engineers in the world work for NASA. Before they built the real lunar module, they made small models of it using household items. You can also build a lunar module by downloading some instructions. For this activity, all you need is three large index cards, four paper clips, four coins, and some tape.