Reboot the suit: With $500,000 pledged, Smithsonian sets sights even higher
Even NASA may not have expected this kind of blast off.
A crowdfunding effort to preserve the spacesuit Neil Armstrong wore on the Moon has overshot its target, and now the organizers are setting their sights even higher.
The National Air and Space Museum partnered with Kickstarter to raise $500,000 to conserve the suit. It met that goal within five days and now hopes to raise $700,000 and conserve Alan Shepherd鈥檚 Mercury spacesuit, the suit he wore while making America鈥檚 first manned space flight in 1961.
As of midday Monday, the 鈥溾�� campaign聽had raised more that $550,000.
Mr. Armstrong鈥檚 spacesuit will be displayed temporarily in 2019 鈥� for the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing 鈥� and in a new exhibit at the museum, called 鈥淒estination Moon,鈥� planned for 2020.
The Smithsonian Institute has partnered with Kickstarter for a series of crowdfunding projects. Armstrong鈥檚 spacesuit is the first.
Per Kickstarter rules, if the project misses its target all the donors get their money back. If the target is met donors get 鈥渢hank you鈥� prizes. Smaller contributions can net donors a Neil Armstrong Spacesuit mission patch or a 3D print code of his glove. Larger donations could yield even more. Donate $2,500 or more, for example, and you could get a Smithsonian flag that flew into space on the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Kickstarter spokesperson David Gallagher told 海角大神 earlier this month聽that Kickstarter is successful in large part because it 鈥渃reates a community鈥� of backers and project developers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about raising money, but about gathering a community around an idea,鈥� Mr. Gallagher says. 鈥淎 lot of people come to us and say 鈥業 was raising funds for something but I came away with this group of people who are my supporters and my fans who want to stay on top of what I do next.鈥� There鈥檚 a sense of ownership there. You get involved and feel like you had a part in making this thing happen.鈥�
