How to celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing in Tampa Bay and on TV

Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. There are a number of local celebrations as well as binge-worthy specials on TV for space nerds and space novices alike.

EVENTS

Museum of Science and Industry

MOSI will have a live broadcast with NASA experts discussing experiences from NASA sites on Friday at 1 p.m. Guests are also invited to experience "One Small Step," MOSI's Apollo exhibition, on display this summer. And from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, there's rocket building and launching in the MOSI Science Park, space origami, space rover challenges and a meteoroid challenges. The day will also feature special guest presentations, space-themed shows, pop-up demonstrations and a re-broadcast of the original moon landing as seen by millions on television. $12.95, $10.95 seniors, $7.95 3-12. 4801 E Fowler Ave., Tampa. (813) 987-6000. mosi.org.

RELATED: Our readers recall their Apollo 11 memories

Great Explorations Children's Museum

Space-related activities on the gallery floor were created by the National Informal Science Institute and NASA. Included with admission from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. $10, $9 seniors. 1925 Fourth St. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 821-8992. greatex.org.

Glazer Children's Museum

Kids can engineer a lunar rover, experience a space-themed virtual reality session, taste space food, have interstellar story time and make planet bracelets. Included with admission. $15; $10 1-12. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. 110 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa. glazermuseum.org.

Miss Ida's Man in the Moon Yard Sale

The moon landing anniversary influenced local playwright Joseph Alan Johnson, who will premier his newest play, Miss Ida's Man in the Moon Yard Sale at the Gulfport Art Center this weekend. The one-woman show stars Olga Kruse as Miss Ida Lemmie, who is holding a yard sale on that day in 1969. As she sets up the sale, details of her life unfold. Seating is limited, so reservations are strongly encouraged at (727) 504-2163. $10 cash at the door. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 2726 54th St. S.

ALSO READ: The Apollo 11 story told through the eyes of the Florida men and women who made it happen

Safety Harbor Library

A Lunar Landing Party features talks, crafts and games for kids. Free. 11 a.m. Saturday. 101 Second St. N, Safety Harbor. (727) 724-1525.

Tarpon Springs Public Library

See the latest Apollo 11 documentary with never-before-seen footage and audio recordings. Free. 2 p.m. Saturday. 138 E Lemon St., Tarpon Springs. (727) 943-4922.

Arthenia L. Joyner University Area Community Library

Kids in kindergarten through fifth grade can celebrate with "space" science activities presented by Mad Science. Free. 2 p.m. Thursday. 13619 N 22nd St., Tampa.

78th Street Community Library

Children will learn about Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon with themed books, games and crafts for ages 3 to 5. Free. 4 p.m. Friday. 7625 Palm River Road, Tampa.

Planning your weekend?

Subscribe to our free Top 5 things to do newsletter

We’ll deliver ideas every Thursday for going out, staying home or spending time outdoors.

Loading...

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Port Tampa City Library

See the movie First Man, based on the book by James R. Hansen that follows Neil Armstrong as he becomes the first man to land on the moon. Refreshments will be provided. Free. 2:30 p.m. Saturday. 4902 W Commerce St., Tampa.

ON TV

A global audience of more than 500 million viewers tuned in for what was considered the greatest adventure in human history. A man on the moon is still a big draw on television. TV news will offer coverage of the anniversary celebrations at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Apollo Mission Control Center in Houston. And here's some of the special programming this week:

8 Days: To the Moon and Back

The film is a blend of mission audio featuring conversations among Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins with new footage, NASA archive and stunning CGI to recreate the first moon landing. Watch live on PBS at 8 p.m. Wednesday or stream on pbs.org.

Walter Cronkite's coverage

CBS is mining its archives to present real-time footage of Cronkite's coverage of events at the times they occurred. CBS's free streaming news service, CBSN, is re-airing its historic broadcasts at the time they happened 50 years ago, including the moon landing footage steaming at 4:17 p.m. Saturday, followed by Neil Armstrong's big moment at 10:56 p.m. Cronkite's account of the moon landing and moonwalk will start at 1:17 p.m. Saturday. Audio of the coverage will be carried on CBS News Radio.

READ MORE: The surprisingly wholesome story behind that space ship on top of a Tampa strip club.

NASA's Giant Leaps: Past and Future

Hosted from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the show will salute the heroes of Apollo and discuss the agency's future plans. 1 p.m. Friday. Watch live on NASA TV, Discovery Science Channel or stream on NASA Live.

Apollo: The Forgotten Films

The two-hour television special will tell the complete story with "footage not seen anywhere else," according to Discovery. The archives reveal the incredible lengths an army of engineers, scientists and astronauts went to to achieve the moon landing. 8 p.m. Saturday. Discovery and Science Channel

Apollo 11

CNN's cinematic space documentary features rare and never-before-seen footage of Apollo 11 and the moon landing. 9 and 11 p.m. Saturday on CNN.

Moon Landing Live

BBC America will use news archives from around the world as well as NASA footage in this documentary that re-tells Apollo 11's journey. 8 p.m. Saturday. BBC America.

The Beagle Has Landed!

Ron Howard and Jeff Goldblum explore Snoopy's NASA gig for Apple TV. The crew named the lunar module "Snoopy" and the Apollo command module "Charlie Brown." The film, available now on the Apple TV app for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, stars Ron Howard as himself and Jeff Goldblum as a self-published NASA historian who factor into a mockumentary investigation into whether Snoopy was a top-secret space explorer.

Apollo: Missions to the Moon

Filmmaker Tom Jennings' two-hour documentary revisits all 12 Apollo missions through NASA films, archival TV footage, home movies, never-heard-since radio broadcasts and NASA Mission Control audio that, for the first time, includes the voices of individual engineers. The film premiered on National Geographic in July but you can still watch it online at nationalgeographic.com.