Source: Obama to host Apollo 11 astronauts

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will host the Apollo 11 crew Monday, the 40th anniversary of man’s first landing on the moon.

A senior administration official confirmed the plans to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they had not yet been announced.

The event is one of only two that will feature the entire Apollo 11 crew. The other is a lecture at the Smithsonian Institution on Sunday night.

Two of the crew members, Neil Armstrong, who took the first step on the moon, and command module pilot Michael Collins, do not make many public appearances. The second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, appears frequently in the media. Aldrin is 79; Armstrong and Collins are 78.

The astronauts are no strangers to presidents.

The Apollo 11 crew visited the White House five years ago and conducted an interactive chat on the Internet. In 1969, President Richard Nixon traveled to visit the crew while they were in quarantine aboard the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean.