SAVING AMERICA’S TREASURES: THREATENEDARTIFACTS FROM THE APOLLO ERA

Lisa Young

National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian InstitutionPaul E. Garber Facility

3904 Old Silver Hill RoadSuitland, MD 20746-3190

IntroductionThe National Air and Space Museum’s Space History Division has

recently begun an undertaking to save threatened artifacts from the ApolloSpace program. This project is being funded through support from the SaveAmerica’s Treasures grant program (a public-private partnership between theWhite House Millennium Council and the National Trust for HistoricPreservation) and Hamilton Sundstrand (a United Technologies Company).The primary goals of this interdisciplinary project are to preserve the Apolloera spacesuits in the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) collection andto share the results of our research on the deterioration and preservation ofspacesuits with other museums (Figure 1).

Four main goals have been outlined for the two year project: 1) Todocument the current condition of the spacesuits in the collection and stabilizethe suits for long-term storage or display; 2) To establish and maintain a

materials advisory group created of museum specialists, industry experts andmaterial scientists, so that research may be undertaken regarding the complexissues involved with spacesuit materials, their deterioration and preservation;3) To design, test and implement containers and shelving for the long-termstorage of the spacesuit collection when it is moved to the NASM DullesCenter in 2003; and 4) To produce guidelines and standards for practice forthe conservation, storage and display of spacesuits.

Figure 1. Apollo Pressure Suit, A7-LB worn by David R. Scott, commanderof Apollo mission 15 in 1971 (NASM photographer Mark Avino).

Phase I: Condition Assessment of the CollectionEach spacesuit in the collection of NASM is being thoroughly

documented and examined by a team of conservation professionals. Detailedcondition report forms have been created for use and will be used to record the

materials of each object, the previous environmental history of each artifact,as well as the current condition of each suit in the collection. Data collectedduring this phase will be evaluated and compared to information on the

history, technology and previous conservation efforts of the spacesuits1, andall of the information will be consolidated in one location. A detailed databasehas been created so that the information being recorded is easily accessibleand reports can be generated for further study and analysis. This data will beexamined and evaluated in order to provide us with a better understanding ofthe history of each suit from the time it was manufactured to it’s use and lifein the Museum.

Research and Analysis. During the condition examination of each suit,non-destructive analysis is being performed in order to establish a conditionbaseline and permit monitoring of future changes. Some of the analyticaltechniques being used include pH testing, comprehensive digital and largeformat photography, colorimeter readings of the textile components using a

Minolta Chroma meter, and performing CT scans of each suit so that the 3-dmorphology of the interior layers of the suit may be examined and recorded.Research is being undertaken to identify material components of the suits as

well as identifying degradation products present on the materials as well as thepossible cause of these products (Figure 2). This information will be used todetermine a conservation priority for each suit and the level of conservationwhich is necessary in order to stabilize these materials for long-term storageand exhibition. Depending on the condition of each suit, the extant ofdeterioration, and the intended disposition of the artifact (storage, exhibitionor research), remedial conservation will be performed as deemed necessary.

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Figure 2. Material components of the interior layers of a Space Shuttle Extra-vehicular mobility suit (Courtesy of United Technologies Corporation, SI

photo 87-6781).

Phase II: Materials Advisory GroupA materials advisory group has been organized and will be maintained to

assist and advise the project team on issues related to the deterioration andpreservation of the materials from which spacesuits are constructed.Substantial research and extensive consultation with industry experts andconservation professionals is deemed necessary because of the scarcity ofreliable, published information. Meetings are being held at NASM to bring as

many of the members together as possible, and results of findings andresearch are being disseminated for discussion using an electronic discussionlist. Over twenty-five members have joined the advisory group from bothNorth America and abroad. Expertise of the members range from museumconservators to polymer chemists to the engineers who actually manufacturedthe suits in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Phase III: Long-term Storage of the CollectionsAn environmentally controlled Bally box for the storage of the spacesuit

collection has been erected at the Paul E. Garber Restoration and PreservationFacility in Suitland, Maryland. This storage area, which will house sixty ofthe spacesuits after their conservation, will be used as a working prototype forthe newly created permanent storage area which will be created at the NASMDulles Center in 2003. Storage racking and containers will be designed andimplemented for use with the spacesuit collection, and will be tested forpossible long-term preservation of the collections. Several factors beingconsidered in the new design of the storage system are the materials of thespacesuits, the weight and size of the suits, accessibility to the collection, theintended use of the objects, as well as the optimum environment for thematerials long-term. For the past ten years, many of the spacesuits in the

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Proceedings Published 2014 by the American Chemical Society

collection have been stored in a temperature and humidity controlled Ballybox in which the temperature has been kept at approximately 45 to 50 degreesFahrenheit. Nonetheless, some of the spacesuits stored in what would appearto be ideal conditions, are continuing to deteriorate2. Other factors which are

being considered are the size of the physical space, the quantities of gaseouspollutants off-gassing from the suit materials themselves, the amount ofexternal pollutants present such as ozone, and the handling practices of theMuseum staff who use the collections. All these factors are known to

encourage the degradation of modem materials, and every suit is affecteddifferently.

Mary Baker should be recognized for their research performed on the

spacesuits over the past decade.

References(1) Baker and McManus, "Space Suits: NASA’s Dream- Conservator’s

Nightmare", Saving the Twentieth Century: The Conservation of ModernMaterials" 1993, pp. 223-229.

(2) Lange, Baker and McManus, "Implications of Cold Storage on theNation’s Collection of Spacesuits" No Publication source 1995, 2 pages.

(3) Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum. Artifact LoanProgram: Policy Regarding the Loan of Spacesuits. 1990, 2 pages (onfile at the NASM).

(4) Kozlowski, Baker and McManus, "Space Suits: Legacy of America’sSpace Program: Their Evolution and Conservation Problems", ICOM-CC, 10th Triennial Meeting, Washington D.C., 1993, pp. 308-313.

Figure 3. Cutaway model of the Apollo Extra-vehicular suit. This 21-layersuit protected the astronaut from radiation, temperature extremes and lack ofpressure (Courtesy of NASA, SI photo 92-616).

Phase IV: Dissemination of InformationGuidelines and standards of practice will be produced and published at

the end of the project summarizing information and research gathered duringthe project. These guidelines will form a blueprint for further research, andwill serve as state-of-the-art guidelines for the conservation treatment, storage,and display of spacesuits. The information will be disseminated to variousinstitutions and organizations responsible for the preservation of spacesuits,and to organizations who wish to borrow a spacesuit from NASM. Theseguidelines will be produced in consultation with members of the National Airand Space Museum staff, industry experts as well as recognized conservationand preservation professionals.

Future Research and WorkOver the next two years, all of the Apollo spacesuits in the NASM

collection will be thoroughly examined for the first time since theiracquisition in the 1970’s. In-depth research on the material components ofeach suit and their current state of preservation will be reviewed and an

historical account of each suit will be researched and developed. In 1990,guidelines were created for the exhibition, care and handling of spacesuits atNASM and this information is currently being distributed to organizationswho wish to borrow spacesuits from the Museum3,4. As more and more suitsare being requested for loan, and more is discovered about spacesuit materialsand how they deteriorate, it is not only timely, but necessary to review these

guidelines. Tighter practices for the handling, exhibition, storage andconservation of these unique, yet challenging objects must be established.

Acknowledgements. The author of this paper would like to

acknowledge Amanda Young, curator of Spacesuits and Astronaut Equipmentat NASM, for historical information on the spacesuits. Ed McManus and

Polymer Preprints 2000, 41(2), 1799

Proceedings Published 2014 by the American Chemical Society