Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin is taking a trip to the Emmys.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Tuesday that Aldrin, part of the 1969 moon mission, will accept the Philo T. Farnsworth Award on NASA's behalf at the Emmy engineering awards on Saturday.
The award, named for the inventor of television, recognizes an agency, company or institution whose contributions affected the state of TV technology and engineering.
NASA is receiving the award for innovations that allowed the Apollo crew's live TV broadcast from the moon.
The Apollo 11 landing and the first steps on the moon are considered among the most widely watched live events in television history. Viewership was estimated at 125 million in the United States and more than 600 million worldwide.
The 40th anniversary of the moon landing was commemorated last month, and to mark the event, NASA released enhanced video of key moments from the television coverage.
Other Emmy engineering awards will go to the Jim Henson Company for an animation system that allows performers to puppeteer and voice digital characters in real time; Fujinon and NHK for an HDTV focusing system; Litepanels for the company's energy-efficient LED lighting fixtures; and Dolby Laboratories for an innovative audio platform known as the DP600 Program Optimizer. Grip Trix is receiving an engineering plaque for its virtually silent camera dolly.
The main Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will be held Sept. 20.
This report includes information from The Associated Press and msnbc.com.