Why is it being stored outside??????
Posted on 07/19/2019 6:14:24 PM PDT by airvet
The capsule used by Neil Armstrong is deteriorating and in danger of crumbling into dust. The capsule or gondola used by Armstrong from the time he was a test pilot, X-15 pilot, and finally Gemini and Apollo astronaut is in sad condition. He not only trained in the gondola for the various space programs, but worked to develop flight controls with the engineers and technicians of the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) in Johnsvile, PA. He also used his experience there to become a NASA expert in flight simulation, one of his primary roles in the US space program.
The gondola, also used by Alan Shepard, John Glenn and other astronauts, has been stored outside in the elements for more than 50 years. The paint that once protected it is now gone leaving the metal exposed to be attacked by rust and corrosion. The non-profit group raising money to provide a shelter for it and restore it is in a race against time to get it indoors before it collapses under its own weight.
The Johnsville Centrifuge and Science Museum, Inc. was formed in 2008 to preserve the gondola and other historic NADC artifacts. In the proposed facility, they plan to include an extensive array of STEM programs in hopes of inspiring future generations of scientists and engineers.
Spokesman Michael Maguire, who also leads the effort, says “if someone of means does not come forward soon the gondola, along with all the history it carries, will be lost forever.” He is asking all those who care about the great achievements of our country and want to preserve that legacy to please step forward to help.
Donations, payable to JCSM, may be sent to PO Box 2014, Warminster PA 18974 or made via Paypal by visiting their website at www.nadcmuseum.org. For more information call 267-250-8841 or email nadcmuseum@comcast.net
Why is it being stored outside??????
WHY DONATE?
In another five years the Liberals will say that this was white supremacist and that we should destroy all monuments and artifacts of anything to do with moon landings
Breaking news??
The organization needs help to be less dumb?
Further, clickbait headline, since this is the training capsule (per the excerpt).
That is exactly what I was thinking. One doesn't simply store supposed "national treasures" unprotected and outdoors.
Several years?
I could fix that thing in a week at my shop.
Why doesn’t somebody just grab their tools and fix it up?
This was the first thing that I thought.
I guess I’m just not very good with understanding such things.
Neil and the other astronauts were great men. If the left want to find some twisted reason that they were racist or we were racist for celebrating their magnificent achievements that’s too bad. Houston we gotta problem with America.
Was it stored or just not thrown away?
Hey, my 2g and 3g phones are now obsolete. Plus my hand me down Iphone 5s is delaminating. Who’s helping me here?
My 2004 Escape is starting to rust out, while it runs fine. I could use some $$$ help too.
It was fast and high times in America.
We were at war and we were fascinated with space and space travel.
NONE of us had ever heard of special effects, so whatever these guys had to train for, had to be done and done right now.
It was, after it's use as a trainer, just a carnival ride made of steel.
No one was thinking of any historical value.
A welder with a bank roll and a few months undisturbed will have the sucker gleaming.
For now, the gondola will stay where it is, just off Bristol Road. A pavilion will be constructed over it, but Maguire isn't too concerned about its exposure to the elements.
“It sat outside in the Smithsonian storage yard for 47 years, and it looks great,” he said. “It's designed to withstand extreme G-force conditions, so it's pretty sturdy.”
Per the terms of the gift from the Smithsonian, the capsule was to be kept on no less than a 18” thick reinforced concrete pad. Nine years later, no pavillion to protect it, no longer on a concrete pad (the thin one it was on collapsed into pieces and was removed from under the capsule.)
I'm...less than impressed with the preservation efforts over the past nine years.
Back when men were men.
Wait.....I am a man?
No, I am sure that I am a man.
A man can fix up that damn Gonglia thing.
My son is a man, but, I think he has some friends that would need a phone app to breed.
He could fix it, he’s a welder.
I just wanted to bump this thread.
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