The Nation - News from July 16, 1989
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A sellout crowd of 4,000 joined the Apollo 11 crew--Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins--at the Alabama Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville for the first of four celebrations around the country to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the lunar landing on July 20, 1969. The celebration was like a high-tech rock concert without the music. Lasers bounced off rockets exhibited throughout the center, sound effects simulated the takeoff of the Saturn 5 rocket to the moon and actors portrayed Armstrong’s and Aldrin’s walk on the rugged lunar landscape four days after blasting off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. It climaxed with the Apollo 11 crew rising from a cloud of smoke 20 feet into the air.
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