KSC-2014-3201

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, visiting Apollo astronauts have a group portrait taken in front of the refurbished Operations and Checkout Building, with the family of Neil Armstrong, the Apollo 11 astronaut who was the first person to set foot on the moon and for whom the facility is newly named. From left are Apollo 11 astronauts Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong's former wife Janet, his son Rick, his granddaughter Lily, his son Rick, his grandson Bryce, and Apollo 8 and 13 astronaut Jim Lovell. The building's high bay is being used to support the agency's new Orion spacecraft, which will lift off atop the Space Launch System rocket. Orion is designed to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before, serving as the exploration vehicle that will carry astronauts to deep space and sustain the crew during travel to destinations such as an asteroid or Mars. The visit of the former astronauts was part of NASA's 45th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing. As the world watched, Neil Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the moon's Sea of Tranquility aboard the lunar module Eagle on July 20, 1969. Meanwhile, crewmate Collins orbited above in the command module Columbia. For more, visit http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/july/nasa-honors-historic-first-moon-landing-eyes-first-mars-mission. Photo credit: NASA/Kevin O'Connell