Armstrong Air and Space Museum tour

The museum that “shares the story of Neil Armstrong and all Ohioans who have defied gravity” is just twenty minutes from Alumapalooza and the Airstream factory.

Named in honor of Neil Armstrong—the first human to walk on the moon and Wapakoneta’s favorite native son—the Armstrong Air and Space museum holds a collection of rare treasures.

The museum, designed to resemble a futuristic moon base, opened on July 20, 1972, the third anniversary of the first moon landing. Exhibits include Armstrong’s Gemini and Apollo spacesuits, a Gemini VIII capsule, a moon rock, the airplane in which Armstrong learned to fly, and many more exciting artifacts from NASA programs. You’ll also learn about Yuri Gagarin and other Soviet cosmonauts, and see an interesting replica of the 1957 Sputnik—the first satellite to orbit Earth that kicked the space race into high gear.

In addition to the guided tour for Alumapalooza attendees, be sure to watch what’s playing in the Astro Theater—stirring films are screened every half hour—and test yourself on one of the three space simulators. Safely settling the lunar lander on the surface of the moon is a challenge!

The tour on May 29 will also include a special presentation on the Mobile Quarantine Facilities, the Airstream trailers NASA used to receive and house Apollo astronauts returning to Earth from their moon missions. The comfy but crowded airtight trailers, intended to protect Earth from possible lunar cooties, were outfitted with a doctor and a domestic assistant (to do the cooking and cleaning), and communication equipment that the quarantined crewmen needed to talk with their families and dignitaries.