posted 08-14-2018 09:24 AM               

...Barber managed to get a meeting with Delaware North, the company that runs Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at the end of July. In the end, Delaware North gave Barber approval to seek funding for the statue, although exactly where and how it will be presented was not nailed down.

...now has a design that shows the Apollo 11 crew in their space suits, helmets off and looking toward the moon.

“It's an interesting thing to give composition to, to have all three of them work together,” Lundeen said. “ It's just like the team they went up as. You've got three individuals, each one of the pieces we have endeavored to make into a well designed sculpture on its own, but at the same time to have them interact well together as a team.”

The end result will be figures that are a little larger than life at around 7 feet tall.

posted 08-14-2018 05:14 PM               

I'd be happy to have an Apollo 11 statue out there, but it should show examples of all the workers on the project. Maybe for example a pyramid design with each row of the pyramid being different sorts of scientists, technicians, administrators, astronauts from previous missions, etc.

In my opinion, the bottom row should highlight average Americans, who, after all, by their taxes, made the whole thing possible.

posted 08-22-2018 09:09 AM            

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Originally posted by Fra Mauro:
I like that too but how much of it would be included? Just the crew?

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posted 09-10-2018 07:19 AM               

...he is confident that he will be able to find a willing suitor, particularly since the sponsor would be able to attach their name to a plaque that will be placed in front of the statue.

"This is just an incredible opportunity to wrap an advertising campaign around the greatest tech achievement in history of mankind," he said. "Nearly two million people a year visit the Kennedy Space Center, and this anniversary event next year is just going to be huge, so $750,000 is really not a lot to pay to be at the center of something like this and have that kind of exposure."

The Lundeens and Bainer, meanwhile, have already started working on clay models of the astronauts in order to have something to show prospective sponsors and to be ready to go when funding is received.

posted 09-11-2018 03:45 PM               

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Originally posted by Headshot:
I like the idea of a statue of that launch day pose by the crew along with a few KSC workers behind them.

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There's a reason the crews got the press: They were the ones who could (and did with Apollo 1) die both badly and publicly.

posted 09-18-2018 07:01 AM               

Either that or have all the mission emblems on the ground in front of the astronauts.

posted 05-15-2019 12:35 AM               

Rocket Mortgage underwrites new statue of Apollo 11 astronauts

A new monument to the crew of the first moon landing will rise from the mission's launch site as the gift from an aptly-named financing company.

Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans has partnered with Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to erect a bronze statue of Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. The monument, to be installed this summer, will be the focal point of a new garden outside the display of a Saturn V moon rocket at the Florida spaceport.

posted 05-25-2019 10:46 AM            

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Originally posted by David C:
This statue tells me nothing about the real Apollo 11 crew or the program. It's all about the thoughts of those who commissioned it.

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posted 05-28-2019 12:06 PM               

I'm reminded of the Saint-Gaudens bronze relief sculpture on Boston Common showing the 54th Massachusetts Infantry of African-American Civil War soldiers. A powerful depiction of the men marching led by their colonel, Boston native Robert Gould Shaw, but not depicting a specific battle they were in.

posted 05-30-2019 04:41 PM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
If the statue is positioned outside the Apollo/Saturn V Center such that the crew is facing the water, then it will appear as if they are watching their own launch.

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posted 07-12-2019 03:11 PM               

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Unveils Moon Tree Garden, 'The Eagle Has Landed' Statue to Honor Apollo 11 Crew

Today, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex kicked off the Apollo 11 50th anniversary celebrations by unveiling the Moon Tree Garden, a dramatic new accent to the grounds of the Apollo/Saturn V Center.

The garden, which features 12 trees grown from seeds that orbited the Moon, also includes a George Lundeen sculpture that depicts Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in their space suits. The statue, titled "The Eagle has Landed," is a gift to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex from Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans, the nation's largest mortgage lender.

"As the nation's top mortgage lender, we treat the impossible as an opportunity," said Casey Hurbis, chief marketing officer of Rocket Mortgage. "We presented this statue to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to honor the courage and importance of the Apollo 11 mission, who achieved the impossible by landing man on the Moon and into the annals of history."

The Moon Trees were provided by Rosemary Roosa, daughter of veteran Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, and president of the nonprofit Moon Tree Foundation. The foundation was created in honor of her father, who took seeds from loblolly pine, sycamore, sweet gum, redwood, and Douglas fir trees on his space mission as part of a joint U.S. Forest Service/NASA project. The seeds, which have all orbited the Moon, were later germinated and planted around the world to share the story of the mission.

Since then, the Moon Tree Foundation continues to fulfill its mission by planting second-generation "Moon Trees" all over the world. The 12 trees in the Moon Tree Garden represent each crewed Apollo mission. The garden also includes a carving made from the original Moon Tree planted at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex that was lost during Hurricane Irma in 2017.

"We are excited to kick off our Apollo 11 celebrations at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex by officially opening the new Moon Tree Garden," said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. "The garden and the life-size sculpture of the Apollo 11 crew are tributes to the outstanding accomplishments of the Apollo Program."

At the center of the Moon Tree Garden, the seven-foot-tall bronze statue is set upon a four-foot-tall concrete base, which features an engraving that honors the Apollo 11 crew and all those who made their historic spaceflight possible. Other enhancements at the Apollo/Saturn V Center include a closer look at Lunar Module 9 and Command and Service Module 119, projection mapping on the side of the Saturn V Rocket, a 1969 period living room and bar scene, and much more.

posted 07-12-2019 05:54 PM               

I recently saw the John Swigert memorial statue at the Denver airport and it's very similar in presentation. Of course, it was the same sculptors who made both...

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Originally posted by SpaceCadet1983:
The astronauts names are too small and Rocket Mortgage is too big. In fact, Rocket Mortgage shouldn't even be on there.

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posted 07-13-2019 07:14 PM               

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Originally posted by GACspaceguy:
Amazing, how about a smaller replica version for us Kollectors?

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posted 07-14-2019 12:35 AM            

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Originally posted by SpaceCadet1983:
What I don't like is the plaque attached to it. The astronauts names are too small and Rocket Mortgage is too big.

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Rocket Mortgage is way too big. Still think it's a well made statue, and still don't like it. Whilst I accept that statues often say more about the people who put them up than about their puported subjects, (as in this case), I don't have to like that fact.