McDivitt and Schweickart, Houston astronaut parade, 1969
McDivitt and Schweickart, Houston astronaut parade, August 1969. Footage of NASA astronauts James Alton McDivitt (born 1929) and Russell Louis 'Rusty' Schweickart (born 1935) and their families being driven by car at the Houston astronaut parade of 16 August 1969 in Houston, Texas, USA. McDivitt (in the first car) was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1962. At the time of this footage, he had flown the Gemini 4 (1965) and Apollo 9 (March 1969) missions, the latter being his last mission. Also in the car are his wife Patricia and their children Michael, Ann, Patrick, and Kathleen. In the second car is Schweickart, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963. At the time of this footage, he had flown the Apollo 9 mission (March 1969), his first and last mission. With him in the car are his wife Nancy and their children Vicki, Randolph, Russell, Elin and Diana. This parade was held to honour the Apollo 11 astronauts, but also featured other NASA astronauts. The Apollo 11 crew had achieved the first landing by humans on the Moon on 20 July 1969. Houston is the home of NASA's mission control, the Manned Spacecraft Centre (MSC), and this was among the first parades held in their honour. It featured numerous marching groups, with around 300,000 people lining the streets. A ticker tape parade was held along the downtown Houston section of the route.