AIC's 43rd Annual Meeting

In March 2013, 25,000 pounds (12.5 tons) of Apollo-era (1969-1972) Saturn V rocket engine parts were recovered off the coast of Florida after more than 40 years on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition was sponsored by Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and chief executive, with the support of NASA. The engine parts were recovered from a debris field of 300 square miles at a depth of approximately 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) using deep-sea sonar and remote operated vehicles. After recovery, the artifacts were transported to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas to undergo excavation, identification, documentation and conservation in a custom-designed facility. The recovery initiated exceptional press coverage and launched an unprecedented conservation project to preserve the most powerful yet disposal artifacts that were ever made. This paper will discuss the enormous technical challenges faced in stabilizing and conserving composite objects that are both modern technological marvels and marine archaeological artifacts. One of the chief difficulties in making conservation work was planning conservation strategies for modern marine artifacts whose size, composition and state of preservation were virtually unknown prior to arriving in the lab. These oversize, complex artifacts are made from a combination of super-alloys and other modern materials, many of which are unfamiliar to conservators. Identifying what materials were present was surprisingly difficult due to a scarcity of information about the composition of the engines and a veil of secrecy that still prevails after half a century. The size and weight of the engine parts presented additional practical challenges for treatment, as did the extraordinary levels of deformation and corrosion alongside almost completely pristine metal. Addressing immediate stabilization concerns such as keeping the artifacts wet at all times to prevent deterioration added to the complexity and required a creative and flexible workspace and conservation approach. Developing stabilization treatments that were compatible with multi-metal artifacts propelled the general principles applicable to the conservation of marine archaeological artifacts to a completely different level. The decision to separate the different components for treatment or adopt a more holistic preservation philosophy was decided on a case-by-case basis. A successful multidisciplinary dialogue ensued and prompted an effective integration of conservation theory and practice to understand the level of deterioration of the engines, and determine how best to preserve the collection.