That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the boy from Wapakoneta, Ohio, said those immortal words when he became the first human being to step on the surface of the moon. In fact, the Apollo 11 Moon landing was one of the single greatest achievements in the history of humankind.
But the last 50 years have been very hard on the spacesuit that Armstrong wore on that historic mission.
Curators at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum have revealed the race against time to save the spacesuit Armstrong wore on the surface on the moon.
The suit is made of 21 layers of various plastics, and curators some of them – along with other plastic exhibits the museum holds, are beginning to rot.
The Smithsonian, in a dramatic effort to save this historical item from the first ever moon landing, have launched a crowdfunding campaign to conserve the spacesuit..
The fundraiser, called Reboot The Suit, has already raised over $719,000 from public donations, well over the initial goal of $500,000.
The money raised on Kickstarter will pay for the spacesuit to be conserved, for it to be digitally scanned and analyzed and for a climate-controlled display case to be built so it can be put on show again.
This is the first time the Smithsonian has worked with Kickstarter, and more crowdfunding projects are expected.
The web page states: “We want to preserve Armstrong’s spacesuit – and the story it tells of its incredible journey – down to the particles of lunar dust that cling to its surface. Just like the Apollo program, we will accomplish this in collaboration of thousands of people across the country and around the world.”
The suit hasn’t been displayed since 2006 because it is so fragile – but researchers hope to build a special climate controlled case for it in time for next year’s 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
The case will store the Armstrong suit in carefully chosen conditions: 63 degrees Fahrenheit, 30 percent humidity, plus filters to remove contaminants.
Curators say the key to saving its plastic exhibits will involve filtering out ultraviolet rays, keeping the temperature low and humidity stable – or providing an oxygen-free environment to prevent oxidation.
Luckily, it is believed the Armstrong suit’s deterioration was arrested in time – in other suits, the neoprene became so brittle that it shattered into little pieces inside the layers.
However, while in storage at the Smithsonian, curators also found a brown stain had appeared on the Armstrong suit’s left torso, as plasticizer moved out of the air supply tubes, which were made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
That happens because the molecules within plastics are not arranged in the most efficient way, said Jane Lipson, a physical chemist at Dartmouth College.
Conservators say spacesuits were built for short-term use with materials that break down over time.
With Kickstarter supporters help, there’s a good chance the suit will be back on public display next year – 50 years to the day the boy from Ohio stepped on the moon.