Actor George Clooney and astronauts Charles Duke and Thomas Stafford and were among distinguished guests at a black-tie dinner commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
“Are you all going up in a rocket later?” Clooney asked photographers. “You don’t want to travel with me, I got killed in ‘Gravity.’ “
The event on the evening of May 9, held at Kennedy Space Center’s Apollo/Saturn V Center, was hosted by Swiss watchmaker Omega. The company’s Speedmaster watch has been worn on all six lunar landings and has earned the nickname, “the Moonwatch.”
While testing various watches to send into a zero-gravity environment, NASA determined that the Omega was the only watch up to the task. James Ragan, the NASA aerospace engineer who first tested the Moonwatch, was also among attendees at Thursday night’s dinner.
Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut, was the first to wear the watch on the moon, and although he was scheduled to attend the dinner, the 89-year-old astronaut could not make it due to health reasons.
Omega CEO Raynald Aeschlimann, astronauts Nicole Stott, Terry Virts and Jean-Francois Clervoy; actors Antoni Porowski and Douglas Booth; and influencers Chiara Ferragni and Jay Alvarez were also in attendance, with many other international guests.
Shortly after 9 p.m., 83-year-old Apollo 16 astronaut Duke stepped off of his bus and into the “red carpet” area wearing a patriotic red, white and blue bow tie with a red and white cummerbund. At 36 years old, he became the tenth and youngest person to walk on the moon on April 20, 1972.
Stafford, now 88 years old, crossed the red carpet soon after sporting a standard black tuxedo and a cheery smile. He served as a lieutenant general in the Air Force and in 1962, he flew aboard Gemini 6A and Gemini 9. In 1969, Stafford was the commander of Apollo 10, the second manned mission to orbit the Moon.
George and Amal Clooney were the last guests to appear on the red carpet, striding into the frames of waiting cameras while exchanging pleasantries with members of the media before disappearing into the Apollo/Saturn V Center to join other guests for dinner.
Omega is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 with a special line of watches, including a $34,600 “moonshine gold” watch made of 18k gold.
