The Smithsonian Institution has taken a step forward in preserving a significant and rare piece of history i. e. the spacesuit worn by Neil Armstrong when he made the history of being the first man to step on the moon on July 20, 1969.

To do this the museum in Washington, DC, has asked for public help. The museum has started an online fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. com 'Reboot the Suit' and wants to raise almost $500,000 over the period of next month.

It has been found that the campaign on its first day i. e. Monday was successful in collecting nearly $140,000. The money collected through the campaign will be entirely used to safeguard the spacesuit, digitize it with 3D scanning and build a climate-controlled display case, according to the Guardian.

The spacesuit has been kept in storage since past 13 years and has been displayed. Cathleen Lewis, curator at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian, said, "This is the crown jewel of our collection. Kickstarter is a very new and innovative way to go for the Smithsonian. We haven't done anything like this before".

People who will make contribution to the campaign can receive several awards based on the amount of the donation. The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) reported that the people can even get a special Armstrong spacesuit mission patch or a 3D print of the astronaut's glove.

CSM stated that the Smithsonian is planning to put the suit on temporary display for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 in July 2019. The suit will go on permanent exhibit in 2020.

The museum receives federal funding but still it opted for crowdfunding because most of the federal money goes to salaries, building support and maintenance, Lewis said.