Experience the spectacle of one of humanity’s greatest achievements

Ohio Goes to the Movies is going to the Moon. Apollo 11: First Steps Edition is returning to the OMNIMAX^® Theater one day only as part of America 250-Ohio’s signature event, Ohio Goes to the Movies. As part of the event, Cincinnati Museum Center is hosting a free screening of the OMNIMAX^® film, panel discussion and meet-and-greets with the film’s Ohio-born director and composer, Todd Douglas Miller and Matt Morton, and NASA Apollo Mission Control engineer Poppy Northcutt.

• 10:30 a.m.: Apollo 11: First Steps Edition OMNIMAX^® screening
• 11:30 a.m.: Apollo 11: First Steps Edition panel discussion
• 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Meet-and-greet in Neil Armstong Space Exploration Gallery, presented by the Harold C. Schott Foundation
• 4 p.m.: Apollo 11: First Steps Edition screening in Reakirt Auditorium
• 5:45 p.m.: Filmmaker presentation
• 6:30 p.m.: Meet-and-greet

Through never-before-seen 70mm footage, Apollo 11: First Steps Edition lets you relive the first steps and remarkable achievement of Ohioan Neil Armstrong alongside Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and thousands of people behind the scenes in stunning footage revealed to the public for the first time.

About the Panelists

• Todd Douglas Miller was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and is best know for his award-winning feature-length films Apollo 11 and Dinosaur 13. Apollo 11 premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, winning over 90 national and international awards, and became one of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time.
• Matt Morton is an award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist and engineer/producer from Columbus, Ohio. He is best know for the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning documentary Apollo 11 from NEON and CNN Films. His captivating and innovative score exclusively used instruments and effects that existed at the time of the Apollo 11 launch in 1969, Morton was awarded both the 2019 Critics' Choice Documentary Award for Best Score and the 2020 Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Original Score.
• Frances “Poppy” Northcutt joined NASA as part of the Apollo program in 1965. She was soon promoted to engineer and became the first woman to serve in an operational support role in Mission Control. She was assigned to Mission Control's Planning and Analysis room and helped calculate the trajectories that guided Apollo astronauts safely home, including the crews of Apollo 8, Apollo 11 and Apollo 13. She received NASA's Silver Snoopy Award for Flight Safety, presented by Neil Armstrong, for her work on Apollo 8. She, along with the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for helping to safely bring the crew home.
• Roy Tharpe first joined NASA in 1963 as part of the Launch Operations Directorate at Cape Canaveral. He was a data systems analyst for the Gemini Program and then the Apollo Program beginning in 1967. Through the Apollo Program, he was a key member of the team responsible for supporting the ground systems and equipment required to test and launch the Saturn rocket and Apollo spacecraft. He was an integral member of Apollo mission 8 through 17, including the first manned Moon landing during Apollo 11, during which he provided one of the "go for launch" calls during liftoff.

Ohio Goes to the Movies is a statewide celebration of movies showcasing Ohioans: actors, directors, writers, composers, locations and topics, shown in cities and towns across the state. A signature event of America 250-Ohio, Ohio Goes to the Movies runs mid-February 2026 through October 2026 – roughly 250 days of Ohio movie magic showcasing Ohio’s contributions to America’s film industry and moviemaking. Movies include independent film, Hollywood blockbusters and industrial/special interest films, from rare archival footage to contemporary works.