Neil Armstrong wore on his Apollo 11 mission to the moon just got an astronomical amount closer, after the campaign to restore the suit raised more than $200k over their $500k target.
The Reboot the Suit campaign closed on Wednesday and the total of $719,779 raised means that the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC is also able to restore the Mercury spacesuit worn by Alan Shepard, the first American in space.
The Smithsonian plans to show the suit as part of their Destination Moon exhibition but unfortunately, 40 years in a climate-controlled storage area doesn’t do enough to conserve such an important piece of space history. That’s why they appealed to Kickstarter to raise the funds to conserve, digitize and display Armstrong’s spacesuit. They clearly knew their market, as the $500k target was smashed in only four days, enough time to go to the moon and back.
Rewards for the campaign, aside from that warm, fuzzy feeling of doing something awesome for science, ranged from stickers and posters for $10 donations, to tickets to the unveiling of the suit for those big spenders out there.
Alas, no amount of money let you don Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 suit and recreate that giant leap for mankind…
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