NASA's Apollo 11 astronauts honored in... a butter sculpture
Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins look just as legendary carved in butter at the Ohio State Fair.
Life-size butter sculptures of the Apollo 11 space crew are featured in the 2019 butter display presented by the American Dairy Association Mideast.
If you want to celebrate NASA's 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, you might as well do it with butter.
At this year's Ohio State Fair, visitors can see highly detailed, life-sized butter sculptures of the Apollo 11 moon crew -- Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
There's also a separate butter sculpture of Armstrong in his spacesuit saluting the American flag while standing near the lunar module Eagle.
Armstrong -- who was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio -- is considered a state icon for his trip to the moon. In addition, Armstrong bought a dairy farm in Ohio after leaving NASA in 1971.
"Ohio also has a special connection to that day, as one of our own took the first ever steps on the surface of the moon," Jenny Hubble, senior vice president of communications for the American Dairy Association Mideast, said in a statement.
Not to be outdone by the humans, there are also the traditional butter sculptures of a cow and her calf in the display. Both the cow and calf are wearing ear tags with the word "Apollo" written on them.
This butter sculpture of Neil Armstrong in his spacesuit saluting the American flag is downright legen-dairy.
It took 2,200 pounds (998 kilograms) of butter donated by dairy farmers. Steel frames support the weight of the butter.
The sculptors worked on the butter sculptures inside a cooler at a temperature of 46 degrees Fahrenheit (7 Celsius) for 400 of the 500 hours it took to make the buttery display, according to a video from the American Dairy Association Mideast.
Space fans have until Aug. 4 to see the Apollo 11 butter sculptures on display.
