Executive Summary

JFK Moonshot it’s a first-ever full-scale augmented reality simulation of the Saturn V Rocket launch taking users on longest-running AR powered livestream journey from the Earth to the Moon. it was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. We wanted to push the limits of AR and create a new format that would allow users to re-live, 50 years later, those very same moments that made history, to actively take part in what could be arguably defined as mankind’s greatest achievement to date.

Background

The Kennedy Presidential Library and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.

On July 16th, 1969, millions of people gathered around their televisions to watch Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin take flight from Kennedy Space Center aboard Apollo 11. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic moon launch, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation wanted to introduce today’s generation to President Kennedy’s vision for the space program and this pivotal moment in history. So we created JFK Moonshot, an Augmented Reality app that enables people to experience the events surrounding the Apollo 11 mission in an immersive way.

Objectives

Brief and objectives, including any targets set. (e.g. cost-saving, income generation, increasing brand awareness)

Our goal was to immerse a new generation into one of the greatest stories ever told and do it in a way that’s never been done before.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic moon launch, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation wanted to introduce today’s generation to President Kennedy’s vision for the space program and this pivotal moment in history.

Strategy

We created JFK Moonshot, an Augmented Reality app that enables people to experience the events surrounding the Apollo 11 mission in an immersive way.

We found original and inventive ways to use today’s media and technology to help a new generation understand this unprecedented feat of ingenuity, teamwork, and perseverance.

We built an interactive documentary app that let users learn about the Moon launch and re-live the Apollo 11 mission in Augmented Reality. Using the latest Augmented Reality technology on an enormous scale, we created a simulation of a life-size Saturn V, a replica of the rocket that launched Apollo 11 into space.

JFK Moonshot hit the app store on June 12th and was officially launched at a symposium at the JFK Space Summit a few weeks later. On July 16th, exactly 50 years to the day of the moon launch, users could experience a virtual Moon launch in the app and follow the spacecraft’s five-day journey from the Earth to the Moon from anywhere in the world.

The app also includes educational content, archival video footage about the journey to the Moon and back, and Augmented Reality mini-games with leaderboards that added a layer of gamification to the experience.

Results

We found original and inventive ways to use today’s media and technology to help a new generation understand this unprecedented feat of ingenuity, teamwork, and perseverance.’

Whether they remember watching the Moon launch or were learning about it for the first time, we made a historic event accessible to people of all ages. The app honored President Kennedy’s forward-thinking vision and rounded out a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Moonshot.

In the end, we introduced a new generation to an important moment in history using the latest and greatest technology—which was once just as unthinkable as putting a man on the Moon was 50 years ago.

11% Attitudinal Lift

110,000 Rocket Launches

139,000 App Downloads

220,000,000 Global Impressions

Client testimonials

President Kennedy set a seemingly impossible goal to reach the Moon and then marshalled the resources, talent, and national commitment that led to one of the greatest achievements in human history,” said Steven Rothstein, Executive Director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. “Fifty years after the first Moon landing, we sought to harness that innovative spirit in bringing this riveting moment to life again. We hope that JFK Moonshot will inspire new generations to spark the next great advancement for humankind.”