To mark 50 years since NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed the first humans on the Moon, the National Maritime Museum will stage, The Moon, the UK’s biggest exhibition dedicated to Earth’s nearest celestial neighbour, opening on the 19 July 2019. Featuring over 180 objects – including real lunar samples and artefacts from the Apollo 11 mission – the exhibition presents a cultural and scientific story of our relationship with the Moon over time and across civilisations.
To celebrate the opening of this major exhibition, the Museum is hosting a series of events, including a screening of First Man (2018) in London’s only Planetarium, family festival days celebrating the cultural significance of the Moon and Royal Observatory Lates that provide a behind the scenes insight into studying and photographing the Moon.
This programme of events will enable visitors to reconnect with the Moon in this special anniversary year.
Events will take place across the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, Queen’s House and Cutty Sark.
The Moon is on at the National Maritime Museum from 19 July 2019 – 5 January 2020. For more information, or to buy tickets, visit www.rmg.co.uk/moon50
Take a look below at our top picks on the family events!
To The Moon And Back
This summer journey to the Moon and back with crafts and experiments that fire up your imagination and send you rocketing into space. Learn about the realities of space with explainers from the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Dates: Saturdays and Sundays between 27 July and 1 September
Times: 11.00-13.00 | 14.00-16.00
Venue: Learning Space, National Maritime Museum
££: Free
Age: Suitable for all ages
Grubs Up: Surviving Sea and Space
Join us for a fun-fuelled family day. Get active in a Haka workshop led by the Maori community, learn about the special diets of astronauts on their way to the Moon or take a moments peace with family yoga. Take a journey all the way from the Arctic to the Moon and back again, get to grips with the soil under your feet and get to know your own body’s movements.
Date: 17 August 2019
Times: Drop-in 11.00-16.00
Venue: National Maritime Museum, London
££: Free
Age: Suitable for all ages
Diwali: Festival of Light
Celebrate the lunar festival of Diwali at the National Maritime Museum. This day-long festival will include Bollywood dance workshops, music and craft for the whole family.
Dates: 26 October 2019
Times: 11.00-16.00
Venue: National Maritime Museum, London
Admission: Free
Age: Suitable for all ages
Diary of a Cosmic Explorer!
A one-day workshop with bestselling cartoonist James Parsons from Crazy Comic Club. Create your own mind-blowing cosmic comic memoir, explore the farthest reaches of the solar system and the cartooning universe, complete with all pop-up magic, X-Ray cartoons, and other eye-popping treats, while learning secret comic art techniques used by the professionals… all you need to bring is your imagination!
Dates: 30 July 2019, 22 August 2019
Venue: Seminar Room, National Maritime Museum
Times: 10.30-16.00
££: £20 per child and accompanying adult. £10 per additional child
Ages: 6-13
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
Celebrate September’s full Moon with the Mid-Autumn Moon festival co-produced with Aluna in collaboration with local communities to reflect their unique cultural traditions associated with the Moon. Discover what the Moon means to people all around the world and take part in workshops, storytelling and performances for the whole family.
Dates: 14 September 2019
Time: 11.00 – 16.00
Venue: National Maritime Museum, London
££: Free
Age: Suitable for all ages
Moon Stories
Ready your little astronauts for a journey to the Moon! With stories, songs and play, we will travel to space and back again.
Dates: Tuesdays between 27 July and 1 September
Times: Timings vary – see rmg.co.uk
Venue: Learning Space, National Maritime Museum
££: Free
Age: Suitable for under 5s
Moon Kites
Help us celebrate the National Maritime Museum’s new exhibition The Moon by creating a traditional Malaysian moon kite inspired by Cutty Sark’s travels.
Dates: 3 and 4 August 2019
Times: 11.30-13.30 and 14.00-16.00
Venue: Sammy Ofer Gallery, Cutty Sark
££: Activity free with admission to the ship
Age: Suitable for ages 4 and over
Moons Beyond Counting
Discover our own Moon and some of the more exotic moons of the Solar System in this brand new planetarium show narrated by an astronomer.
Dates: Throughout 2019
Times: Weekends/holidays: 12.30 | 14.45 | 17.00
Term-time weekdays: 14.45
Venue: Peter Harrison Planetarium
££: £10.00 Adult | £5 Child | £6.65 Concessions
Age: 7+
Website: www.rmg.co.uk/moon50
Twitter: @RMGreenwich #Moon50
Instagram: @royalmuseumsgreenwich #Moon50
Facebook: @royalmuseumsgreenwich #Moon50