NASA events commemorate 55th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing

July 15 (UPI) -- NASA is recognizing the 55th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing this month with a variety of events and engagements that started on Monday.

Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and its celebration will highlight NASA's current effort to return to the moon for long-term exploration with the Artemis mission. The Artemis mission is expected to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon.

Along with re-examining the historic Apollo 11 mission on Monday, NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will host the rollout of the Artemis II Space Launch System core stage.

"The rocket stage with its four RS-25 engines will provide more than two million pounds of thrust to send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission," NASA said.

"Once at Kennedy, teams with NASA's Exploration Ground System Program will finish outfitting the stage and prepare it for stacking and launch. Artemis II is currently scheduled for launch in September 2025.

On Friday, the Johnson Space Center will hold a ribbon-cutting in the renaming of Building 12 the Dorothy Vaughan Center, in honor of the "Women of Apollo." Vaughan was a mathematician computer programmer and NASA's first Black manager.

The Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., on July 21 will host a model rocket contest conducted by the National Association of Rocketry Headquarters Astro Modeling Section, which is open to the public.

Other activities include the Space Center Houston hosting pop-up science labs and mission briefings from Tuesday through July 24, and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. hosting displaying a piece of lunar rock returned from the Apollo 11 mission on Friday.

NASA representatives will appear at San Diego Comic-Con on July 25 to talk about the Artemis mission.