July 1 (UPI) -- New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday debuted a new exhibiting celebrating all things moon to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
The exhibit, Apollo's Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography, explores ways in which the groundbreaking lunar landing influenced art. The show includes photographs, drawings, paintings and films, as well as astronomical artifacts and instruments.
"The moon has long been a nearly universal source of fascination and inspiration." Met Director Max Hollein said. "This exhibition shows us how photography introduced new dimensions to its documentation and interpretation, and explores the tremendous impact that the 1969 moon landing had on artists at the time -- the lasting effects of which still resonate today."
Included in the exhibit are moon drawings by 16th century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, lunar daguerreotypes dating back to the 1840s, original drawings for the 1902 silent film A Trip to the Moon and artwork created in the wake of the Apollo program by artists Nancy Graves, Aleksandra Mir, Nam June Paik and Robert Rauschenberg.
The Apollo 11 astronauts -- Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins -- blasted off for their historic space trip on July 16, 1969. Aldrin and Armstrong became the first humans to step foot on the lunar surface on July 20 as half a billion people watched on television back on Earth.
The Met exhibit is one of dozens of events nationwide to celebrate the scientific achievement.