U.S.S. Enterprise Now At D.C.'s Air and Space Museum
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- If you're willing to boldly go to Washington D.C., you can now take in the original U.S.S. Enterprise.
That's right -- the starship of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock has been transported to the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, WJZ's Alex DeMetrick reports.
Though the stardate was far in the future, the U.S.S. Enterprise first took flight on televisions everywhere in 1966.
Every week trouble rode with it, and every week it won.
But it still took a lot of work by the Smithsonian's restoration experts to bring the original Star Trek Enterprise back for a re-run.
"It's about 50 years old and we did a lot of restoration over the last two-and-a-half years to get it to the state it's in now," said curator Margaret Weitekamp.
When it was in the restoration lab at the museum, "people would come into the lab and they would lock eyes on this thing and they would just light up," said chief of conservation Malcolm Collum. "Turned into zombies with this thing."
Mostly made of wood, the ship is 11 feet long and 200 pounds.
Plenty of real historical objects have been restored by the museum, so why bother with a TV prop?
Because "Star Trek is a wonderful touchstone of imagination and inspiration," according to Weitekamp.
Those passing by the exhibit, which is still under construction, agree.
The U.S.S. Enterprise will formally open this Friday, when the Air and Space Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary.
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