An exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission opens in the city's planetarium in Montevideo on July 25, 2009. Called "Apollo 11: From the Earth to the Moon," the exhibit includes an audiovisual documentary narrating the historic achievements of the Apollo 11 mission. Co-produced by the planetarium, the national theater group and the municipal TV channel, the documentary includes interviews with mainstream personalities in Uruguay.

The pre-screening of this magnificent documentary and the inauguration of the exhibit took place on Monday, July 20, exactly 40 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing. U.S. Chargé D'Affaires Robin Matthewman and other embassy officials attended the event.

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CDA Robin Matthewman with planetarium director Oscar Méndez and Mario Delgado, director of the Arts & Science Division of the Municipality of Montevideo.

CDA Robin Matthewman speaks with a group of high school students upon arriving at the planetarium.

The exhibit includes 60s memorabilia such as models of the Gemini and Apollo projects as well as an old turn table playing Frank Sinatra songs such as the big hit "Fly me to the Moon".

Several local media outlets covered the inauguration of the exhibit.

U.S. Embassy officials Robin Matthewman, Albert Schandlbauer and Robert Zimmerman sitting in the audience for the pre screening event. Right: CDA Robin Matthewman presents high school student Gonzalo Gutiérrez with an airline ticket to attend NASA's Space Settlement Design Competition in Texas.

Maldonado High School students speaking with CDA Robin Matthewman.

U.S. Public Affairs officer Robert Zimmerman in photo op with two groups of high school students from Maldonado.

REMARKS BY CHARGE D'AFFAIRES ROBIN MATTHEWMAN
Montevideo Municipal Planetarium
July 20, 2009

CDA MATTHEWMAN: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished members of the governments of Uruguay and the city of Montevideo; members of the diplomatic corps; and friends.

Forty years ago today, mankind fulfilled a dream as old as civilization itself when the crew of Apollo 11 became the first explorers to visit another world. Their incredible achievement was unlike any other, not only because they left the Earth, but because many of us who are here today saw the events unfold on the moon as they happened, on live television.

Even today, it is hard to believe that man landed on the moon just 66 years after the Wright brothers created the world's first successful aircraft in 1903. Perhaps even more incredibly, the computers used to send Apollo 11 to the moon had just a fraction of the computing power of the cell phones, cars, and even the refrigerators of today.

The Apollo 11 astronauts were Americans. Nonetheless, as many as 400,000 people were involved in the effort to send them to the moon. Among them were nationals or former citizens of many countries. The principles of physics and rocketry which guided the program have their roots in Europe and China. A Canadian was actually in charge of building the lunar module, the craft the astronauts used to travel from lunar orbit and land on the moon. The chief geologist in those days for NASA, America's space agency, was an Egyptian.

The space program has given us many of the commonplace items all of us use today, such as velcro, teflon cookery, digital photography, and computerized guidance systems. These were just some of the inventions designed to make Apollo possible which made our lives today more convenient.

Today, our government sponsors programs which let future Uruguayan space scientists create projects for the Space Shuttle. Some of them were invited to visit NASA headquarters in Houston. I believe we have a common future in space exploration, in which Uruguayans will play a major role.

Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, who toured the world for about a year after he returned to Earth, understood his mission's most enduring accomplishment better than anyone. According to Collins, "people said ‘We did it'" crediting not just Americans, but humanity itself, for the success of man's first voyage to another world.

On behalf of the United States, I would like to thank the people of Uruguay and especially the staff of the Planetarium, for giving new meaning to the achievements of Apollo 11 through the program you have created today.

I would like to use take his opportunity to let you all know that we have here today some students from Maldonado representing a group of 17 students between 15 and 17 years old from High School No. 4. Just like in 2008, they have been selected as Latin American finalists to represent the continent in the international competence organized by NASA “Space Settlement Design Competition”, which will take place at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas between July 21 and August 7 of this year.

The US Embassy has been supporting this NASA international competition from its beginning to make possible that Uruguayan students can travel and show their projects which have always obtained excellent recognition. Therefore, I would like to call Gonzalo Gutierrez to present him with his ticket to the US that will enable him to travel this year.

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