While pleased that someone is finally trying to stop the degradation (the show said a full restoration would likely cost several hundred dollars), it saddened me to see just how badly it had decayed after decades of exposure to the elements. I'm sure the one on display in Huntsville is in just as poor condition. One of the things they showed on that program was a restoration project on an early lunar rover concept vehicle that had been parked outside for over 20 years. I remember seeing that vehicle being towed at Marshall Space Flight Center when I was 7 years old.

Years ago, I read where the British did something wonderful to preserve a bit of their history. They went to all of the military bases and other places where Spitfire fighters were displayed outside and retrieved the planes. They were replaced with fiberglass replicas that are very realistic. Meanwhile, those recovered planes are being restored, some to full airworthyness. A Spitfire is both historic and one of the most beautiful planes ever built. It's great that they're being treated right.

I wish we'd do the same thing here in the US. I know of many rare, irreplaceable planes and rockets that are being destroyed by exposure to the elements. For example, just a few miles away from me on Peterson AFB, there is a P-47N (long range escort version built for the Pacific) and P-40 displayed outside. Down at Lackland AFB, there is a P-51H Mustang (one of the rarest and fastest Mustangs ever built in quantity) and a F-82 Twin Mustang parked along with other planes around the parade ground. I only know of 3 F-82s anywhere in the world (CAF has one, Air Force Museum has another, and the one at Lackland), so letting one be destroyed by the elements is a terrible thing, IMO.