Internships at National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution is
looking for conservation interns/volunteers to assist with a unique
project funded through the Save America's Treasures grant program.
The intern will assist the Project Conservator with all aspects of
the project including condition examinations, documentation,
photography, analysis, research and treatments. Specific details
regarding internships or volunteer opportunities will be worked out
between the student and Project Conservator. There is no funding
attached to this internship at this time and the project is
scheduled to end in December 2001. Research information or data
pertaining to the storage, display and treatment of spacesuits or
related modern materials is welcomed. Please pass this announcement
a long to any other organizations who may be doing research in this
area or to other interested organizations.

Threatened Artifacts of the Apollo Program--Project Summary

The National Air and Space Museum's Space History Division has
recently begun an undertaking to save threatened artifacts from the
Apollo Space program. This project is being funded through support
from the Save America's Treasures grant program (a public-private
partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the
National Trust for Historic Preservation) and Hamilton Sundstrand (a
United Technologies Company). The primary goals of this
interdisciplinary project are to preserve the Apollo era spacesuits
in the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) collection and to share
the results of our research on the aging and preservation of
spacesuits with other museums. NASM will establish and maintain a
0materials advisory group created of museum specialists, industry
experts and material scientists, so that they may research the
complex issues involved with spacesuit materials, their
deterioration and preservation. NASM will serve as a national
clearinghouse for information pertaining to spacesuit preservation
and conservation. At the end of this project, guidelines and
standards of practice will be produced for the conservation, storage
and display of spacesuits.

Phase I: Each spacesuit in the collection of NASM will be thoroughly
documented and examined by a conservation team of professionals.
Non-destructive analysis will be performed in order to establish a
condition baseline and permit the monitoring of future changes. Data
collected during this phase of the project will be evaluated and
compared to information on the history, technology and preservation
of the spacesuit, and all information will be consolidated in one
location. Depending on condition, the deterioration of the materials
within each suit, and the intended disposition (storage, exhibition
or research), remedial conservation will be performed as deemed
necessary.

Phase II: A materials advisory group will be organized and
maintained to assist and advise the project team on issues related
to the deterioration and preservation of the materials from which
spacesuits are constructed. Substantial research and extensive
consultation with industry experts and conservation professionals is
deemed necessary because of the scarcity of reliable, published
information. The information gathered by this group will be used to
formulate and design storage containers in which to house the
spacesuits as well as enabling conservation professionals to better
understand the degradation of the materials that occur when they are
played on display.

Phase III: Guidelines and standards of practice will be produced at
the end of the project summarizing information and research
assembled during Phase I of the project. These guidelines will form
a blueprint for further research, and will serve as state-of-the art
guidelines for the conservation treatment, storage, and display of
spacesuits. The information will be disseminated to various
institutions and organizations responsible for the preservation of
spacesuits, and to individuals or organizations who wish to borrow a
spacesuit from NASM on loan. These guidelines will be produced in
consultation with members of the National Air and Space Museum
staff, industry experts as well as recognized conservation and
preservation professionals.

For additional information on this project, contact:

    Lisa Young
    Conservator
    Space History Division
    Paul E. Garber Facility
    Building 24
    Suitland MD 20746-3190
    301-238-3149
    lisa.young [at] nasm__si__edu

or

    Amanda Young
    Museum Specialist/Spacesuits and Astronaut Equipment
    Space History Division
    National Air and Space Museum
    Washington DC 20560
    202-633-9317
    Fax: 202-786-2947
    amanda.young [at] nasm__si__edu





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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:48
                  Distributed: Friday, March 24, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-48-042
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