Music legend Quincy Jones receives a montage from astronaut Leland Melvin (right), as hip-hop artist and producer Pharrell Williams (left) looks on at a NASA 50th anniversary ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 25.

NASA officially celebrates its 50th birthday today. The space agency can now look forward to challenges of a 21st century moonshot with the Constellation program, even as it phases out its workhorse space shuttle.

Quincy Jones produced American pop music staples such as Michael Jackson's album Thriller, and made solo hit recordings of his own that include "Walking in Space." He also arranged the NASA song favorite "Fly Me to the Moon" for Frank Sinatra. Jones joined Melvin and Williams in a presentation to over 300 students at the Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Campus, known as THEARC.

• New Video - NASA at 50: Part 1, Part 2
• Images - 50 Years of Spaceflight: The Road Ahead
• Video - Back to the Moon with NASA's Constellation

— NASA and SPACE.com Staff

Credit: NASA/Paul Alers