— In recognition of the sacrifices and dedication of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo crew members, each astronaut will be presented a moon rock-embedded award as part of a special ceremony honoring the 35th anniversary of Apollo 11 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (July 13).

The moon rocks being awarded will be samples returned by one of the six Apollo moon landing missions. Each will be encased in acrylic and attached to a base with an inscribed plaque.

The lunar samples will remain the property of NASA, but the astronauts and their surviving families, in coordination with NASA, will select a museum or other educational institution where their awards will be publicly displayed in their name to help inspire a new generation of explorers.

The award celebrates the "realization of a vision" for exploration first articulated by President John F. Kennedy in May 1961, when NASA's fledgling human space flight program had little more than 15 minutes of space flight experience. In addition to the moon rocks, each of the 34 astronauts (nine now deceased) will be named by NASA as "Ambassadors of Exploration."

Among the honorees, in addition to the astronauts, will also be veteran journalist Walter Cronkite. Millions experienced the early years of space exploration through Cronkite's news reports. During the Apollo 11 mission, Cronkite was on the air for 27 of the 30 hours it took for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to complete their work on the lunar surface.

As Ambassadors of Exploration, the recipients will help NASA communicate the benefits and excitement of space exploration and "why the continuing investment in our future is vital to the security and vitality of America."