A SPACE HERO LANDS AT THE GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY

The celebration of Buzz Aldrin Day in Los Angeles

Los Angeles - At 6:00 pm on Thursday, August 27, 2009, Councilmember Tom LaBonge stood at the front of the Griffith Observatory and declared it to be "Buzz Aldrin Day in Los Angeles". The famous Astronaut, who was one of the first humans to land and walk on the moon, joined Councilmember LaBonge, General Manager Jon Kirk Mukri, Dr. E.C. Krupp (Observatory Director) and over 100 hundred Angelenos.

Dr. Aldrin spoke about some of his experiences from his famous Apollo 11 voyage, which is part of his new autobiography, Magnificent Desolation. Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon with Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969. The two astronauts spent 21 hours on the moon's surface and returned to Earth with 46 lbs of lunar rocks. Dr. Aldrin recounted his experiences in preparing for his trip to the moon, standing on the lunar surface and his bumpy return to Earth. After his speech, Dr. Aldrin greeted visitors and signed copies of his book.

Multiple telescopes were also set up along sidewalk of the Observatory's front lawn for free public viewing of the first quarter Moon. There are four major moon phases; new, first quarter, full and last/third quarter. The first quarter moon phase occurs a week after the new moon, when the Moon has completed about a quarter of its turn around the Earth. During this phase half of the illuminated part of the moon is visible.

For more information about this special event or the Department in general, please call (213) 202-2700 or visit our website at www.laparks.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jane Kolb: (213) 202-2694