Both Armstrong’s and Shepard’s suits will be part of a new exhibition called Destination Moon planned for 2020.
Advertisement
The fundraising effort made its $500,000 goal just five days after its July 20th launch.
The Smithsonian’s has raised United States dollars 719,779 to restore the spacesuit that Neil Armstrong wore while walking on the moon.
The institution will even have enough money to preserve and display a second spacesuit used by Alan Shepard, the first American in space. “We accomplished this together, and we’ll make sure [the] spacesuits are accessible to inspire generations to come”.
Funds pledged over the $700,000 goal will go towards the destination moon exhibition.
Shepard was the first American in space, flying on the Freedom 7 spacecraft.
“All objects are in a constant state of deterioration”, Peter Jakab, chief curator at the National Air and Space Museum, told The Atlantic. Though it succeeded at protecting the astronaut from the extreme environment of space, it was not designed to survive the test of time.
The campaign, “reboot the Suit”, continued for one month. After raising funds, the Smithsonian is planning to restore the Armstrong’s white spacesuit and helmet, so that it can be ready for public viewing by the 50th anniversary in 2019. It too will benefit from a conservation before its installation in the “Destination Moon” gallery.
Advertisement
The museum set out to raise $500,000 to conserve the spacesuit, build a climate-controlled display case and digitize the suit with 3D scanning.
