Crowding of Apollo 11 astronauts at Houston parade, August 1969. Footage of NASA astronauts Buzz Aldrin (born 1930) and Michael Collins (born 1930) being swamped in ticker tape while they and their families are being driven by car at the Houston astronaut parade of 16 August 1969 in Houston, Texas, USA. Both had been selected as NASA astronauts in 1963. They both participated (with Neil Armstrong) in the historic Apollo 11 mission, achieving the first landing by humans on the Moon on 20 July 1969. Also in the cars are Aldrin's wife Joan, and children James, Janice and Andrew, and Collins' wife Patricia and children Kate, Ann and Michael. This parade was held to honour the Apollo 11 astronauts. Houston is the home of NASA's mission control, the Manned Spacecraft Centre (MSC), and this was among the first parades held in their honour. It featured other astronauts and numerous marching groups, with around 300, 000 people lining the streets. Similar scenes occurred in other US cities and across the world as people turned out to see the men who had been to the Moon. |