NPR

Moonwalkers' Apollo 11 Capsule Gets Needed Primping For Its Star Turn On Earth

In 1969 it was the orbiting home and refuge for the first astronauts who walked on the moon. Today, after decades on display in a Smithsonian museum, the module is being restored for a national tour.
The Apollo 11 capsule in in sore need of restoration, conservation specialists say, if it's to last another 50 years. Even the adhesive that holds pieces of velcro in place is losing its stickiness, and some objects inside are starting to pop off.

The Apollo 11 command module, which took the first moonwalkers to lunar orbit and back in 1969, is undergoing a painstaking restoration, in preparation for an unusual national tour later this year.

Until recently, the capsule sat in the main lobby of the National Air and says that occasionally workers would open up its Plexiglas case to look it over or put in new lighting.

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