L to R: Apllo Golf Team Flight Director Gerry Griffin and Apollo 11 Moon Walker Buzz Aldrin on stage at the 55th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Celebration at the San Diego Air & Space Museum on July 20, 2024.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum celebrated the 55th Anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic moon landing with two of the men who were there in person to make it happen, including moon walker and Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin and Gold Team Flight Director Gerry Griffin on Saturday July 20, 2024, exactly fifty-five years to the day in a star-studded evening.

Aldrin capped the event by sharing a deeply personal and heartfelt message with the assembled audience, thanking the “hundreds of thousands of men and women who participated in the Apollo program for helping the entire team make history.” Aldrin also shared how the Apollo 11 Moon Landing was more than just a NASA achievement “but a truly American achievement” brought on by the spirit and dedication of “all mankind.”

Charlie Duke, who was CAPCOM for the Apollo 11 moon landing and a moon walker himself on Apollo 16, congratulated and praised Aldrin via video, saying "I was privileged to be CAPCOM for Buzz and Neil (Armstrong) as they landed on the Moon. What an experience that was. I want to congratulate, first off, Buzz, for your outstanding performance on Apollo 11. It wasn't an easy flight, landing anyways. You guys did a fantastic job. Sorry I am not there to shake your hand and give you a big hug. Buzz, I wish you a happy anniversary. We had a thrilling time. I gotta say, the tension in Mission Control was higher for me during that landing of Apollo 11 than it was when I landed on the Moon on Apollo 16. It was just a different thing on Apollo 11 than it was on Apollo 16. The tension was just through the roof! When we calling '60 seconds' and '30' seconds and you weren't on the ground...the cooler heads prevailed on that flight crew. And Neil and Buzz made a successful landing, and we were so thrilled by that. Glad you are doing well. Congratulations old friend." 

“The Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 20, 1969 marked one of the truly historic moments in mankind’s ongoing exploration of not only planet Earth but also of our universe,” said Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. “Being able to hear in-person from the American legends who were there – original Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and Apollo Gold Team Flight Director Gerry Griffin – was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The International Air & Space Hall of Fame and the San Diego Air & Space Museum were thrilled and honored to host this special evening which created lifelong memories for everyone involved.”

San Diego Air & Space Museum President & CEO Jim Kidrick and Gerry Griffin

Buzz and Anca Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin
Apollo 11 Moonwalker Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin flew 66 combat missions in the Korean War and is credited with two confirmed victories. He entered the space program in the Air Force Space Systems Division where he was selected for astronaut training. Aldrin’s first space flight was on the November 11, 1966 Gemini XII mission where he performed a rendezvous with a previously launched satellite and spent a record five and a half hours outside the spacecraft performing extravehicular activities (EVAs). As part of the historic July 16-24, 1969 Apollo XI first Moon landing mission, he became the second man to walk on the Moon when he followed Neil Armstrong to the surface on July 20, spending two hours and 15 minutes collecting surface samples and deploying experiments. He piloted the Eagle back into space to rendezvous with the parent Apollo spacecraft Columbia for return to Earth. Aldrin was inducted into the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 1971.

Museum President & CEO Jim Kidrick and Buzz Aldrin

Mark Larson, the Chairman of the Museum's Board, served as the evening's emcee

Gerry Griffin
Gerald D. Griffin served as a flight director during the Apollo program and director of Johnson Space Center, succeeding Chris Kraft in 1982. In 1964 Griffin joined NASA in Houston as a flight controller in Mission Control, specializing in guidance, navigation and control systems during Project Gemini. In 1968 he was named a Mission Control flight director and served in that role for all of the Apollo Program crewed missions, including all nine crewed missions to the Moon, six of which included lunar landings. Griffin’s “Gold” team conducted half of the lunar landings made during Apollo: Apollos 14, 15, 16, and 17. His team was scheduled to conduct the landing of Apollo 13, but when the landing was cancelled as a result of the oxygen tank explosion, his team played a key role in the safe return of the astronauts. Griffin and his fellow NASA Mission Control Flight Directors were inducted into the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2013.

Apollo 11 CAPCOM and Apollo 16 Moon Walker Charlie Duke congratulates Buzz Aldrin via video

Charlie Duke
In April 1972, Charlie Duke became one of just 12 men to ever set foot on the lunar surface and the tenth man to walk on the Moon as part of Apollo 16. He remains the youngest man to walk on the Moon at 36 years and 201 days. In July 1969, Duke was the CAPCOM in mission control for Apollo 11’s historic first Moon landing. After Neil Armstrong famously said “Houston, the Eagle has landed,” Duke’s first words to the Apollo 11 crew on the surface of the Moon were slightly fumbled, “Roger, Twank ...Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot!” Duke was backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 13. Shortly before the mission, he caught German measles from a friend’s child and unknowingly exposed the prime crew to the disease. As Ken Mattingly had no immunity to the disease, he was replaced as command module pilot by Jack Swigert. Mattingly was reassigned as command module pilot of Duke’s flight, Apollo 16. On this mission, Duke and John Young landed at the Descartes Highlands, and conducted three extravehicular activities (EVAs). Duke was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2021.

L to R: Museum President & CEO Jim Kidrick, Gerry Griffin, Buzz Aldrin and Chaiman of the Museum's Board Mark Larson.