Corgi NASA Apollo 11 50th Anniversary

What is it

2019 celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, which is responsible for the first foot prints on the moon, which still remain there to this day.

Corgi are proud to reintroduce two Apollo 11 products to the range in celebration of this scientific feat, the Apollo Command module and the Lunar Module.

Responsible for carrying all three astronauts and the Lunar Module into lunar orbit the Apollo Command module played a vital role in the Apollo 11 landings. The Command Module was 11m high and 3.9m wide and having taken off from Kenedy Space Center, Florida, on July 16th delivered it’s passengers to their destination in just four days. On their return to Earth the three astronauts had to spend 21 days in quarantine to ensure they hadn’t contracted a “moon disease” once finally released a parade and state dinner was hosted on the 13th of August to celebrate the mission’s success. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy had committed to seeing a man land safely on the moon within a decade, and thus his promise to the world had been achieved.

As the Apollo Space Programme attempted to place humans on the surface of the moon in the summer of 1969, the world held its breath as NASA transmitted sound and pictures from their incredible mission across the globe. Becoming perhaps the most recognised craft to an entire generation of people, the Lunar Module which landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon on 20^th July 1969 represented the pinnacle of human engineering prowess, but could it bring the astronauts home safely? As the Columbia command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean four days later, the world had its answer and three new heroes to honour.

What our experts think

These Apollo 11 models encourage children to learn about the historical event while engaging in imaginative play. Our testers were excited to play with them and even made a background space scene on which to set their creative play. This is fantastic for fostering an interest in space and developing their understanding of the world (and universe!) around them.

During their time playing, the children’s imaginations ran away with them and encouraged them to engage in lots of conversations about space. This is great for nurturing their natural curiosity and developing their communication and storytelling skills. Our testers also loved the addition of the facts on the back of the box.