Tranquillity Park is a municipal park in Houston, Texas.

History

Tranquillity Park is a park located in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, between Walker and Rusk Streets, and west of Smith Street, with the

United States federal courts The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution and Law of the United States, laws of the fed ...

building for the Southern District of Texas on one side and

Houston City Hall The Houston City Hall building is the headquarters of the City of Houston's municipal government. Constructed during 1938 and 1939, the City Hall complex is located on Bagby Street on the western side of Downtown Houston. It is surrounded by t ...

on the other. It takes its name, notably differing in spelling, from the

Sea of Tranquility Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin for Sea of Tranquillity or Sea of Tranquility) is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. It contains Tranquility Base, the first location on another celestial body to be visited by hu ...

, where man first landed on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

during the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

mission on July 20, 1969. First opening to visitors in the summer of 1979, Tranquillity Park was officially dedicated on the tenth

anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...

of the historic lunar landing. On bronze plaques placed along the main entrance, the first words transmitted by

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

from the Moon, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," are written in 15 languages. A replica of one of the footprints left on the Moon by Neil Armstrong is also on display inside the park. A two-block-long oasis of water and walkways, the mounds and depressions throughout the park are meant to represent the cratered lunar surface, and the park's 32-level Wortham Fountain features towering stainless steel cylinders designed to resemble the Apollo's rocket boosters. Each year, Tranquillity Park hosts many city functions, art shows, and events such as the Children's Festival and the Houston International Festival. The park is also popular with downtown office workers seeking a shady spot to picnic during their lunch hour. In the northern part of the park, actually a smaller park across the street, there are two memorials, one for each

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

disaster. Construction of Tranquillity Park was completed in 1979, implementing the plan of Charles Tapley and Jeffrey Lunow of Charles Tapley Associates.

References

https://www.visithoustontexas.com/listings/tranquility-park/20278/ Parks in Houston 1979 establishments in Texas Cultural depictions of Neil Armstrong Apollo 11 Downtown Houston {{Houston-stub

History

See also

References