Apollo 11 astronauts are back on Earth and in quarantine. Their next ride was a Corvette.

The bumper stickers are ubiquitous: "My other ride is a ... "

For some, that blank might be filled with an Air Force F-15 Eagle, an antique motorcycle or the Starship Enterprise. But for Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 50 years ago this month, perhaps their bumper sticker would have read: "My other ride is a 363-foot-tall Saturn V rocket."

But unlike today's stickers that draw attention away from the car and to another vehicle, many astronauts of the Apollo program drove something that already garnered envious looks and rose to become the de facto car for their corps: the Chevrolet Corvette.

After spending nearly three weeks in quarantine until Aug. 10 as a precaution against space-borne pathogens, the crew of Apollo 11 left behind 7.5 million pounds of thrust produced by Saturn V's F-1 engines and transferred to more modest 300- to 400-horsepower Corvettes.

Armstrong and Aldrin both drove the sports car, while Collins preferred to drive a Volkswagen Beetle. The crew of Apollo 12 even had matching Corvettes, also known as the "AstroVettes," colored in black and gold — the same scheme that could be found across Apollo hardware, such as the lunar lander with its gold foil and black components. Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell drove one, too.

This year's widely celebrated 50th anniversary wasn't without Corvette-related fanfare, either. Chevrolet in California on July 18 — while the astronauts would have been well on their way to the moon with the lunar module in tow — announced the eighth-generation Corvette, known as the C8. With an engine that sits behind the passengers and design cues that draw more from supercars than everyday muscle, the reworked car will hit the streets late this year. 

How Corvettes joined the astronaut corps

The reason for the Corvette's rise as the ride for astronauts was in part due to Space Coast dealer Jim Rathmann, a race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960. 

The following year, he opened a Chevrolet dealership in Melbourne, where he realized astronauts would make ideal candidates to drive Corvette sales and its image. But being government employees, they weren't allowed to take the cars for free – so Rathmann arranged for astronauts to lease the sports cars for $1 a year.

Though not all Apollo astronauts drove Corvettes, the clever marketing clearly worked. Then and today, parades celebrating spaceflight feature Corvettes and a photoshoot of Apollo 12 with their black-and-gold AstroVettes for Life magazine still crops up online from time to time.

"I feel it's a great connection from Corvette to the space program," Harlan Charles, Chevrolet's Corvette product manager, told FLORIDA TODAY. "Some of the best achievements we've had as Americans are the space program and the moon landing. Even after 50 years, it's still something people have a lot of pride about."

Despite the changes to the hardware over the years — namely that cars today are generally easier to drive and loaded with advanced tech — Charles said Corvettes over the decades have tried to maintain the spirit of the first generations.

"Everybody aspired to be an astronaut to go to space and drive a Corvette," he said. "It was kind of like the American Dream personified."

The most famous Corvette

Perhaps the most famous Corvette, a 1967 Stingray adorned in "Marina Blue," lives right here on the Space Coast. Its rear-facing Ohio license plate might offer a clue as to its original owner: "ARMSTRONG."

The car, now pushing into its second half-century, doesn't look brand new. Patina dots the hood, knobs and switches show signs of wear, the gauges are slightly faded – this coupe has been driven. And its owner wants to keep it as original as possible.

"I didn't restore it and it's just the way it was in 1967," said Joe Crosby, who purchased the car in 2012 and lives on Merritt Island. "Everything on there, he handled and touched."

Crosby said the only changes he's made was to replace the water pump and one muffler. When he came across the spare tire, it still had 20 pounds of air pressure from its first Chevrolet fill-up decades ago.

"This car appeals to three kinds of people: Car people, people interested in the space program, and people who are into both," he said. "I enjoy sharing it."

And share it he does. The Corvette famously appeared on Amazon's "Grand Tour" series, hosted by James May, this year. The star of previous "Top Gear" fame drove it on KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility along with his film crew of 16. Crosby takes the car to shows and celebrations, too, letting people photograph and sit exactly where Armstrong sat half a century ago.

"He was the first person to do what he did. There can only ever be No. 1 and he was that," he said. "He was an amazing guy who did amazing things during his lifetime and his car is a piece of history and is a piece of his history."

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.