The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is turning to crowdfunding in an attempt to improve and expand its collections and preserve pieces of America’s aeronautical history. The museum announced this week that it is launching a ‘multi-project’ partnership with Kickstarter beginning with an effort to preserve Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit.

The inaugural campaign launched on July 20, the anniversary date of the Armstrong’s first walk on the Moon. After five days, the partnership is proving to be a resounding success. The campaign has already passed its initial goal by more than $30,000 with 24 days remaining.

“Through Kickstarter, we are reaching global audiences with the ability to make amazing projects come to life. The public will have the chance to directly contribute to specific Smithsonian projects and follow the creative process from fundraising through completion, regardless of their level of support,” said Yoonhyung Lee, director of digital philanthropy at the Smithsonian.

Backers of the project will receive rewards ranging from simple thank you notes, to mission patches and a 3-D printed replica of Armstrong’s glove.

According to the Smithsonian, the $500,000 price tag includes the cost of preserving the suit in a climate-controlled display case and creating 3-D scans of the suit. Those scans will be used to create educational materials for classrooms.

The Smithsonian plans on putting the suit on display for Apollo 11’s anniversary before moving it to a permanent “Destination Moon” gallery, which is expected to open in 2020.

Since launching in 2009, Kickstarter has enabled the crowdfunding of more than 88,000 projects. During the pilot year of the Smithsonian partnership, the institution plans to focus on “artifacts, exhibitions and projects that need funding”. However there is are no further details at this point about what other projects are coming up.

“It’s a privilege to be working with the Smithsonian to get important projects like this out into the world. This is the first time we’ve teamed up with a museum in this way. We are enormous admirers of the Smithsonian, and we’re thrilled at the opportunity to collaborate with them and to invite new audiences to be a part of their work. I can’t wait to back this project,” said Yancey Strickler, CEO and cofounder of Kickstarter.

Federal support for the Smithsonian is limited to “core functions” which include operating the museums and protecting collections. Private funding has always been a critical part of the Smithsonian’s budget and crowdfunding is seen by the institution as a natural extension of this.