U.S.S. Enterprise Model at Open House at Air & Space Annex in Virginia - pic heavy

[UnderdogDJLSW]

The family and I got the chance to go to an open house the Smithsonian was holding at the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport. For those of you not familiar with this, it is a large hanger facility and annex to the Washington D.C. Air & Space Museum on the Mall. They opened to the public, areas that patrons do not normally get to see: Graphics shops, large work spaces, archives, chemical analysis, etc. We also got to talk to curators on the work they were doing. One woman I talked to researched and restored old paper inserts on dials from aircraft. Others cataloged things that needed to be conserved and not touched, like parts of space suits that shouldn't be cleaned cause it might have some moon dust on it, etc. A fun addition was that they had on display the filming model of the Enterprise from ST TOS. For years it had been in the Washington DC museum gift shop, but as it is 50 years old, it was removed and put in storage so that they can repair splitting wood and other affects of gravity on a model that wasn't supposed to be around for 50 years. The curator on the project also indicated that they would be correcting the over exuberant paint job it got in the 1990s. He mentioned that the top of the saucer was not re-painted and that it was the original paint from series production and that was going to be the basis for the rest of the model. He also mentioned that the top was blow molded plastic. I can't even imagine how fragile that must be. Here are some pic of the model and then I will also post some other pics, too.
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[UnderdogDJLSW]

More Filming Model Photos:
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Then I have posted similar photos from a previous visit there, but worth posting again. Some Trek Megos and other stuff in a case about SF toys:
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[UnderdogDJLSW]

The Concorde in the annex, some archive stuff, welding, and painting spaces:
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[UnderdogDJLSW]

Gemini and Space Shuttle Discovery photos:
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[EmergencyIan]

The Enterprise model is fascinating! And, so is the Smithsonian (all of the museums) in general! Looks like you had an amazing day!


- Ian

[shazam7208]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing, looks like that would be a great outing!

[Nostalgiabuff]

cool. I was there last summer. we did not get to see the Enterprise though.

[Hedji]

What a treasure! Thanks for sharing that with us! Wonder why they repainted it in the 90s, and then only half the saucer? The top half looks terrific.

[drquest]

It looks like the original prop has been restored.

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/28/483281...hip-enterprise

https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/29/...-former-glory/

[Mikey]

It's nuts thinking sane humans actually went up in that Gemini capsule.

[Hedji]

It is just so breathtakingly beautiful.

[Hector]

It's nuts thinking sane humans actually went up in that Gemini capsule.

Yeah, one of the old school astronauts said it was like being inside a washing machine...

[Hector]

Gemini and Space Shuttle Discovery photos:
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This is my geek moment...pure awesomeness...

[emeraldknight47]

It looks like the original prop has been restored.

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/28/483281...hip-enterprise

https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/29/...-former-glory/

Holy Cow, she's a beauty! Design wise, still looks as good as it did 50 years ago! The original ENTERPRISE is one of those pieces of science fiction that, to me, is timeless.

[samurainoir]

because Delta sucks, I was stuck in Washington DC for 24 hours last year on the way back from Japan. Since it was close to the airport, I went to check it out. Lots of cool stuff there. Including the space shuttle and mars rover.

Looks like the behind the scenes tour was awesome. Didn't realize the original Enterprise model was so big.