posted 09-19-2015 11:53 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Space Cadet Carl:
Who is doing this restoration?

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posted 09-27-2015 10:28 PM               

Assuming the government doesn't shutdown, the descent stage will be completely "naked" by the end of the week and stay that way for at least a month.

posted 10-13-2015 12:56 PM               

Lunar module expert Paul Fjeld shares details of the MESA — Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly — on the Lunar Module (LM-2) at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The MESA is affixed to the exterior of the lunar module descent stage where the Apollo astronauts kept tools and other equipment. It also held the television camera that filmed the astronauts' descent onto the lunar surface.

posted 11-06-2015 06:51 PM               

We have liftoff! Earlier this week, we reassembled the ascent and descent stages of our Apollo Lunar Module – LM-2.

posted 05-10-2016 05:52 PM               

They're back! The Friendship 7 and Gemini IV spacecraft have arrived at the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall after undergoing conservation work. Stay tuned as we continue to transform this exhibition in time for our 40th anniversary on July 1.

posted 06-30-2016 12:00 AM               

First look at Air and Space Museum's new 'Milestones of Flight' Hall

After 40 years, the National Air and Space Museum finally has its elephant.

The proverbial pachyderm, in this case a restored Apollo lunar module gleaming with gold foil and a silverly metal skin, is now one of the first artifacts the public will encounter as they enter the Smithsonian museum's newly-renovated central hall, the Boeing Milestones of Flight.

Gen. Jack Dailey, the director of the Air and Space, likens the moon lander to the iconic exhibit of a mounted African Elephant that guests first encounter inside the nearby Museum of Natural History on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

posted 07-04-2016 10:43 AM               

Gen. J. R. 'Jack' Dailey, current museum director, spoke and pointed out ten guests behind him who were all working at the museum forty years ago and were still with the Smithsonian. An honored guest who also spoke was USAF Col. Nicole Malachowski, the first female pilot with the Thunderbirds aerobatic team. She remembered visiting the museum as a young girl and being inspired by the planes and the pilots who flew them, especially the story of the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) of World War 2.

After a rain shower and a long line to get into the museum, the new and reimagined hall came into view, all the more Impressive with lighting at night. Overall, the presentation of the exhibits is very well done, although some people may be put off by the star ship Enterprise from Star Trek, a sci-fi show (it is technically 'in' the hall but is not suspended and faces the entrance opposite the Mall entrance).

One exhibit missing is the Apollo 11 CM Columbia, now in the Space Race gallery next to the Skylab workshop. For now, it sort of looks forlorn with only a placard and high fence around it. But in a few years, it will be a centerpiece of the new Destination Moon gallery, currently called Apollo to the Moon. It certainly shows its age, including signage that still indicates where the Apollo 11 LM and Columbia used to be located. The LM certainly looks better now in its new location; it used to be at the entrance to the museum McDonald's.

posted 07-06-2016 10:15 AM               

When "Star Trek" first aired in 1966, it expanded the viewers' imaginations about what was possible in their lifetimes. Today, many of the space-age technologies displayed on the show, like space shuttles, cell phones, and desktop computers, have already gone from science fiction to science fact. Other innovations, like warp drive, teleportation, and medical tricorders are actively in development. Join us as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of "Star Trek" - a show that continues to inform, enrich, and inspire.

posted 07-30-2016 10:47 PM               

I must say that I miss the plastic shroud encased Columbia, Friendship 7, and Gemini 4. The new displays somehow make them feel less accessible.

I also paid a visit to the Skylab 4 command module. I always feel a little sorry for it being housed in the same facility as its more famous cousins.

posted 09-13-2016 03:01 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MrSpace86:
I am surprised it is a figure and not a mannequin dressed up with a cloth spacesuit mimicking the real thing.

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posted 04-27-2017 06:45 PM               

With careful research and close examination of photography from the Apollo 11 mission, we have been able to refine the accuracy of the external appearance of our LM-2 to more and more closely represent the appearance of LM-5 (Eagle) on the Moon.

The process was painstaking and along the way we learned a lot. We were aided by artist and lunar module expert, Paul Fjeld, along with countless others. The following points to several examples where we were able to achieve enhanced detail and accuracy.