Smithsonian Launches $500K Kickstarter for Famous Suit

"Reboot the Suit" is the slogan for the Smithsonian Institution's new campaign to restore Neil Armstrong's famous moonwalk spacesuit—and the museum group has launched its first-ever Kickstarter campaign to reach its $500,000 goal, Smithsonian reports. Funds raised will go toward conserving the spacesuit so it can be preserved for the long haul and put back on display for the first time since 2006, as well as for a climate-controlled display case and digitizing the suit via 3D scanning, per a Smithsonian statement.

"This is the first time we've teamed up with a museum in this way," says Kickstarter co-founder and CEO Yancey Strickler. Museum officials hope the suit will be fully restored in time for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in 2019; space aficionados can follow the restoration's progress with the hashtag #RebootTheSuit. The suit will eventually be placed at the National Air and Space Museum in the Destination Moon exhibit, set to open sometime between 2020 and 2021. (Neil Armstrong's widow found a "purse" he brought back from the moon hidden in a closet.)