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-12.08.25

AirborneNextGen-
12.02.25

Airborne-Unlimited-12.03.25

Airborne-FltTraining-12.04.25

AirborneUnlimited-12.05.25

AFE 2025 LIVE MOSAIC Town Hall (Archived): www.airborne-live.net

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

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (12.07.25)

“This vote sends an undeniable message to Air Transat management: We are unified, resolute, and have earned a contract that reflects today’s industry standards, not the>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (12.07.25)

Aero Linx: Beech Aero Club The Beech Aero Club (BAC) is the international type club for owners and pilots of the Beech Musketeer aircraft and its derivatives, the Sport, Super, Sun>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Lafferty Jack Sea Rey

While Landing In The River, The Extended Landing Gear Contacted The Water And The Airplane Nosed Over, Resulting In Substantial Damage Analysis: The pilot of the amphibious airplan>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: The B29 SuperFortress ‘Doc’ - History in Flight

From 2022 (YouTube Edition): Carrying the Legacy of The B-29 For Generations to Come We had a chance to chat with the Executive Director of B-29 Doc, Josh Wells, during their stop >[...]

Airborne 12.08.25: Samaritan’s Purse Hijack, FAA Med Relief, China Rocket Fail

Also: Cosmonaut Kicked Out, Airbus Scales Back, AF Silver Star, Russian A-60 Clobbered A Samaritan’s Purse humanitarian flight was hijacked on Tuesday, December 2, while atte>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

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