Neil Armstrong’s Original Spacesuit Has Been Restored for the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Launch

A few years ago, the Smithsonian raised almost three-quarters of a million dollars as part of their “Reboot The Suit” Kickstarter campaign to restore Neil Armstrong’s original spacesuit in time for the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the Moon landing. The mission was a success. On July 16th of this year, exactly 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission launch, the iconic artifact will go back on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum for the first time in over a decade. Getting the suit ready for temporary display during the anniversary–it will eventually live in the brand new Destination Moon exhibit when it opens in 2020–was no small feat. The multi-year conservation project involved digitizing the entire suit with four separate techniques to create a complete picture of the artifact both inside and out. These scans were then used in conjunction with other crazy, modern processes to create life-sized replica statues that will be sent to Major League Baseball stadiums all across the country so spectators that can’t make it to the museum can still experience the awe and wonder of the original.