Jul

Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 Spacesuit

On display starting July 16

Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit from the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing will go on display for the first time in 13 years in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

This spacesuit was worn by astronaut Neil Armstrong, Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, which landed the first man on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
The lunar spacesuits were designed to provide a life sustaining environment for the astronaut during periods of extra vehicular activity or during unpressurized spacecraft operation. They permitted maximum mobility and were designed to be worn with relative comfort for up to 115 hours in conjunction with the liquid cooling garment. If necessary, they were also capable of being worn for 14 days in an unpressurized mode.
The spacesuit has the designation A-7L, and was constructed in the Extra-vehicular or EV configuration.
NASA transferred the spacesuit to the National Air and Space Museum in 1971.

The spacesuit recently underwent an extensive 13-year conservation process funded by thousands of public donations through a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. A state-of-the-art display case and mannequin were created to help protect the fragile suit while on display.

As part of the Kickstarter to conserve the Armstrong suit, it was scanned in 3D by the Smithsonian’s Digitization Program Office (DPO). A 3D model of the suit, fully annotated by the spacesuit curator and conservator, is now available online. Explore the model and download the files to print your own.

The Spacesuit worn by Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. (NASM photo)

The suit will be displayed in the Wright Brothers gallery at the National Air and Space Museum across from the piece of the Wright flyer that Neil Armstrong took with him to the Moon in 1969.

Exhibition highlights