It's already been 20 years since the film directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon, and almost half a century since the actual mission that gave the movie its name; now, in a large celebration of the famous mission, George Clooney and astronauts from the time honor it in Texas.
Besides his short but memorable role in Alfonso Cuaron's Oscar-winning film "Gravity," and perhaps the ill-fated Steven Soderbergh remake "Solaris," the words George Clooney and astronauts don't often go together in the same phrase, but the actor, director, screenwriter and producer still paid a visit to Houston to celebrate those who have gone to space and back.
According to The Daily Mail, the George Clooney astronauts meet-up happened last Tuesday, when the 54 year-old star joined the survivors of the mission and their families at a gala dinner in Sugar Land, Texas.
NBC Bay Area reports that the George Clooney astronauts meeting happened as he's Omega's brand ambassador, and the Swiss luxury watchmakers were the primary sponsors for the gala dinner - understandably so, considering they're the makers behind Omega Speedmaster, the chronograph wristwatches that made it to the moon in 1969, as they were worn by members of the Apollo 11 crew that landed in the moon.
In fact, the Omega Speedmaster Professional is also called the "Moonwatch."
Besides celebrating the 45th anniversary of the famous mission, E! Online reports that the George Clooney astronauts meet-up also honored the longtime partnering between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the luxury watches company, having worked together for nearly five decades.
The event happened at the Western Airways Airport Hangar in Sugar Land, Texas, and one of the mission's surviving astronauts, Jim Lovell; the other astronaut still living from the mission is Fred Haise, who didn't attend the gala.
"This was a time for us in our country when we needed these people to dream," went George Clooney's astronauts speech. "You gentleman are an inspiration to all of us here and I have to tell you what an honor it is to be standing up here with you."
