Neil Armstrong's Moon Space Suit Is Deteriorating | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Mon, Sep 03, 2018

Neil Armstrong's Moon Space Suit Is Deteriorating

Plastic And Neoprene Components Are Becoming Brittle And Degrading

The space suit that Neil Armstrong wore on the historic Apollo 11 moon mission is falling apart, and while its custodians at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space museum are trying to preserve it, the suit is showing its age.

The main culprit is a layer of neoprene embedded in the fabric of the suit. Neoprene is the material that is used to make wetsuits, and over time it hardens and becomes brittle.

CNet cites a report in the New York Times which indicates that the Smithsonian took the suit off display 12 years ago in an effort to preserve the historic artifact. They have managed to slow the aging process, but not stop it.

There are 21 layers of fabric, including nylon and Teflon, that make up the suit. The Smithsonian did not respond to CNet's request for a comment and an explanation of what measures are being taken to preserve the suit.

(NASA image)

FMI: Source report

Advertisement

More News

TikToker Arrested After Landing His C182 in Antarctica

19-Year-Old Pilot Was Attempting to Fly Solo to All Seven Continents On his journey to become the first pilot to land solo on all seven continents, 19-year-old Ethan Guo has hit a >[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Versatile AND Practical - The All-Seeing Aeroprakt A-22 LSA

From 2017 (YouTube Edition): A Quality LSA For Well Under $100k… Aeroprakt unveiled its new LSA at the Deland Sport Aviation Showcase in November. Dennis Long, U.S. Importer>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (06.27.25): Hazardous Weather Information

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.27.25)

Aero Linx: Historic Aircraft Association (HAA) The Historic Aircraft Association (HAA) was founded in 1979 with the aim of furthering the safe flying of historic aircraft in the UK>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (06.27.25)

"We would like to remember Liam not just for the way he left this world, but for how he lived in it... Liam was fearless, not necessarily because he wasn't afraid but because he re>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC