In a June 29 2019 article at AP, Ivan Couronne reports on the work of
curators at Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
in their attempts to preserve the Apollo mission spacesuits.
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Originally Posted by Ivan Couronne, AP
The space suit worn by Michael Collins, Apollo 11's third astronaut, is in near mint condition.
But the blue silicon fingertips of Armstrong's gloves have begun to degrade—a process that for now remains invisible to the naked eye—as has Collins' suit.
"After 50 years, we do know that the rubber is breaking down, and becoming a little bit stiff and brittle," says Lisa Young, an objects conservator for the museum.
"It is inevitable. These were made for one time use, get to the moon and back," added Young, who was only a child when Armstrong and Aldrin touched down on lunar soil on July 20, 1969.
"We know the rubber bladders were only supposed to last six months, and they've lasted now 50 years."
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ivan Couronne, APE
NASA engineers at the time believed they had chosen the best materials possible for the mission, though they did not really know the composition of the lunar soil.
"Lunar dirt is much more aggressive than we had anticipated," said Cathleen Lewis, the museum's curator of space suits.
She points out a pair of lunar boots covered in stainless steel fibers and with blue silicon rubber soles that were worn by Gene Cernan, the last man on the Moon, to show the black layer of dirt that still cakes it from his three-day stay.
Seen under a microscope, "you will find granules of lunar dust embedded in and eroding through the stainless steel fibers," she said.
"That's one of those lessons learned" from the era of Apollo, she added.
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After having undergone restoration work since 2006, Neil Armstrong's
spacesuit will be back on display from July 16th, the 50th anniversary of
the launch of Apollo 11.
It will be displayed in the Wright Brothers gallery at the Smithsonian
across from the piece of the Wright flyer that Neil Armstrong took with
him to the Moon in 1969.
Story, pictures here :-
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-guardi...n-mission.html
Smithsonian web page dedicated to Neil Armstrong's spacesuit (high resolution pictures) :-
https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitio...o-11-spacesuit
High resolution image of Armstrong's suit (click to zoom).
Arguably the most impressive garment ever made in all of history :-
https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/def...2018-02096.JPG
Smithsonian curators preserve Apollo spacesuits - Armstrong suit restored
