And, since this is as much public celebration as private service, guests will include representatives from British charities, churches and armed forces; government officials, past and present; and dignitaries from other countries.
Redwood City Mayor Ian Bain welcomed attendees – many seated in white folding chairs, still more filling the plaza behind them – and observed that the many past and present city dignitaries in the audience showed the city's deep commitment to the project.
Hundreds of moon rocks and other space objects have been lost, destroyed, stolen or remain unaccounted for, some of which American astronauts and presidents presented to dignitaries around the country and the world decades ago and others that NASA officials lent for education, research and public display.
NSW premier Mike Bairdand his predecessor Barry O'Farrell were among Australian dignitaries present on stage to welcome Modi.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright were among the dignitaries present.
Most tellingly, Mr Ayanu told one of the dignitaries present: "I'm no Kenyan.
It revealed, to the prime minister and other dignitaries present, an enormous tangle of shiny metal pipes.
The Nicaraguan Interior Minister, Tomas Borge, was one of about 40 foreign dignitaries present for the speech, which was part of a celebration marking the 15th anniversary of the military coup that overthrew King Idris and brought Colonel Qaddafi to power.
The effect of the speech in the Bundestag chamber was all the greater because the German leaders and foreign dignitaries present knew these were not the words of a professional speechwriter.
He rushed to Morocco, a traditional rival, for the funeral of King Hassan, and upstaged all the other dignitaries present during an effusive encounter with Israel's prime minister, Ehud Barak.
He was among the dignitaries present for the investiture of Boris Yeltsin as president of the Russian republic in July 1991, and during the abortive coup in August 1991, at Yeltsin's request, he denounced the detention of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and anathematized all those involved.
