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WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. "moonwalker-carrier" spacecraft Apollo 11 will take off on a new trip in the next two years to visit different museums around the country.
The space capsule called Columbia has been kept in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington since it came back from the moon in 1969. To celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of its successful achievement of the "first step on moon" project, the capsule will take its own first step off the museum.
"It represents one of the great achievements of mankind," said Myriam Springuel, the director of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service that runs the tour "Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission," as quoted by USA Today.
"We are privileged to take it across the country and to share it with the people who own this object, which are the citizens of the United States," added Springuel.
According to the tour plan, Apollo 11 capsule will go to Space Center Houston and St. Louis Science Center in 2018, plus Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh and The Museum of Flight in Seattle in 2019.
"People in those areas can get up close and personal with this unbelievable artifact," said David Skorton, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to local media.
The capsule will be shipped via FedEx, just like U.S.-born giant panda Bao Bao going back to China.
