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[b]What is the scope of the project?[/b] [i]Briefly, the LM-2 job is in two phases - make it look okay for the 40th [anniversary], then do a proper and complete restoration. I am preparing a report and plan for the big restoration where I will argue to create a "hybrid" example of LM-2 and LM-5 where EVERYTHING of the external vehicle is flight quality, both in substance and application. Allan Needell, the Curator responsible for the LMs, is very committed to having the few remaining examples of the Lunar Module properly restored with the techniques recorded to make it easy for following generations to maintain their quality.[/i] [b]What became of all the kapton you removed from the LM?[/b] [i]The Kapton and blanketing that was on LM-2 was not all thrown away. Very little of it was proper - a lot was applied quite quickly as a PR effort to simulate Apollo 11 as I believe Grumman had very little time back in April '71 to rework it for the Smithsonian. Maybe 90% of LM-2's original cover wasn't there in the first place. They bagged the Descent Stage with a giant sheet of polyethylene, then hung some sheets of 2 mil Aluminized Kapton which crumbled after 33 years in the sun! Some samples of that are being analyzed, and the rest is trash unfortunately. It just broke apart and was covered in dust and filth![/i] [b]It must have been quite an honor to be able to work on such a prevalent artifact... and what a fun challenge, too![/b] [i]It was indeed a dream challenge for me. It was incredibly hard work - I was overly optimistic about how long it would take, but we got done more than we hoped in the extremely limited time that we had thanks to everybody's enthusiasm. That was a GREAT and fun crew, some of whom can be seen in the picture I'm attaching. Two of the conservation interns are going to redo the deployment trusses in the next couple of weeks and then Phase 1 will be done. It is already a much more accurate representation of a lunar lander and it is clean(ish). I hope it withstands the scrutiny of all the Apollo fans out there![/i]
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