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SPACESUIT, once FOUND ON MOON: Crowd action saves it for the public

Moonwalker exhibit is go for blast off

The very suit in which pioneering 'naut Neil Armstrong made his historic moonwalks is to go on show to the public – thanks in large part to a successful crowdfunding appeal for half a million bucks that will bankroll the exhibition.

The Smithsonian Institution said earlier this month that it hoped to raise the cash to fund the construction of a special climate-controlled display case and a full 3D digitisation of Armstrong's natty NASA outfit.

A Kickstarter campaign was created by the Washington DC org to mark the 46th anniversary of Apollo 11's touchdown on the Moon. It sought $500,000 in donations from space fans.

At time of publication, $534,959 had been pledged by 6,724 generous backers with 23 days left to raise presumably surplus dosh for the exhibit.

Had the citizens of Earth failed to respond to the campaign, the suit would have been left to collect dust in storage.

The Smithsonian Institute decided to launch the appeal as a way of raising private money for exhibits that are not covered by federal funding from the US government's purse.

The Neil Armstrong "Reboot the Suit" campaign was always going to be a crowd pleaser – so, good on the org for raising awareness that it needs funds for some of its exhibits.

That said, some might consider such an online rattle of the tin for handouts to be a sorry state of affairs, especially for an item of clothing that has such historic significance for humanity's adventures in space. ®

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