My article, “Deteriorating Plastic Threatens to Ruin Museum Treasures,” originally published in Scientific American was the opening article in this best-of anthology.
These suits were built to last. They were pristine-white and composed of 20-plus layers of cutting-edge materials handcrafted into a 180-pound frame of armor. They protected the wearers from temperatures that fluctuated between −300 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit and from low atmospheric pressure that could boil away someone’s blood. On a July day in 1969, the world watched intently as astronaut Neil Armstrong, wearing one of these garments, stepped off a ladder and onto a dusty, alien terrain, forever changing the landscape both of the moon and of human history. Few symbols of vision and achievement are more powerful than the Apollo mission spacesuits.
Back on Earth, the iconic garments found new lives as museum pieces, drawing millions to see them at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. And staff members there have found, to their surprise, that the suits need their own life support. They are falling apart.