Alumna builds spacesuit for national museum

Patricia Dawson never thought she would venture far from Union after graduating in 2013. In fact, she said she planned to stay close to home and put her history degree to use in Jackson.

Space history sparked Dawson’s interest during a summer internship at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center after her senior year. There, she worked in the collections management department taking care of the museum’s artifacts.

After moving from that position, she did some part-time graduate work to find out if that was something she wanted to pursue. For fun, she decided to apply to intern at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

“My favorite part has been seeing Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit—the first one on the moon—up close in person,” Dawson said. “It’s probably the most iconic spacesuit of all time.”

Dawson started working under the curator of international space programs and spacesuits in the space history department in June and wrapped up her internship about a week ago.

One of the museum’s highlights of the summer was launching a Kickstarter campaign to conserve, digitize and eventually display Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit. Dawson is pictured with other members of the project team on the website.

“We use the power of real objects to tell stories like this one – stories of the vision, intellect and courage of men and women who have overcome challenges and pushed boundaries to take the next giant leap for humankind,” an excerpt from the website read.

“Reboot the Suit” set out to raise $500,000 for the preservation of the suit. It will be displayed in time for the Apollo 11 moon landing’s 50th anniversary in 2019 and later become a permanent feature of an upcoming exhibit called Destination Moon.

While Dawson did not spend much hands-on time with Armstrong’s suit, she was able to build a spacesuit out of spare parts and write an assembly manual as she learned how the process worked. Some parts were already assembled and ready to attach, but other times Dawson was figuring out screws, wiring and cables on her own.

“We have over 400 parts in the collection,” Dawson said. “I’ve been figuring out how to build it by looking at the parts and looking at old assembly manuals, doing research and finding NASA documents that provide more information.”

Unlike the custom-tailored suit Armstrong wore in 1969, Dawson worked on a reusable suit made from replaceable parts that would be used for space walking at the International Space Station, she said.

While a few parts were missing, Dawson worked with the resources she had. Most of what she had was used in testing and came directly from the manufacturer. The word “scrap” was written on each part to ensure they would not be used in space flights.

Dawson said even when she was not working at the National Air and Space Museum, she enjoyed spending leisure time in D.C.’s finest museums and figuring out how each is laid out differently.

“D.C. is a really great place to live, especially for the summer when there’s a lot going on,” Dawson said. “I spend my Saturdays going to museums. It’s nice to be able to go through slowly instead of trying to fit it all into a few days.”

Dawson said she never saw herself working in such a large city, picturing a life in Jackson close to her family.

Born in Kansas, Dawson has lived in Jackson since she was 5 years old. She said she has always had a strong connection to Union, where her father teaches math and her siblings studied.

“I feel like I grew up there,” she said.

In the fall, Dawson plans to attend the University of Oklahoma to pursue a master’s degree in history. Whether she eventually goes into teaching or stays in the museum business, she hasn’t figured that out just yet.

“I haven’t quite nailed that down, but I know God will guide me through whatever happens.”