The Orlando Science Center now has a piece of fabric from the wing of the Wright Brothers’ first airplane, thanks in part to Neil Armstrong’s family.
SpaceKids Global made the historic donation after Neil Armstrong’s sons, Mark and Rick, gave the nonprofit the piece of fabric their father took with him on the 1969 Apollo 11 Mission to the moon as well as an original mission patch, the organization announced.
"Our whole mission is to get elementary students just inspired about STEM education," SpaceKids Global Founder Sharon Hagle said. "We take a particular focus on young girls to become part of this new future. They are the next space travelers."
The gift was shared by Armstrong’s sons to help spread a message of exploration and discovery and it will be on permanent display at OSC near the Science Center’s Flight Lab for the next generations of space explorers to see.
“We know that space exploration is one of those topics that really captures the imagination,” Orlando Science Center President JoAnn Newman said. “I think it is something, just as us humans, wanting to continue to explore and see what boundaries we can push.”