How Big is the Starship Enterprise?
A 135-inch long model of the USS Enterprise used in the original Star Trek series can be found on display in the National Air and Space Museum's gift shop. (Image courtesy of NASM.)
The first Starship Enterprise hangs in the National Air and Space Museum’s gift shop. It is 11-feet long.
“But is it 134-inches long or 135-inches long?” Star Trek fans would ask space history curator Margaret Weitekamp. For years, the precise measurement was a raging debate on Trekkie Web forums. The fans needed the exact length of the 11-deck ship so they could be sure their own models were at scale with the original. Finally, Weitekamp broke out the measuring tape.
Matt Jefferies designed the Smithsonian’s Enterprise model on behalf of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for the failed 1966-1969 television series. Through Star Trek’s various reincarnations for film, television and video games, every Starship Enterprise featured has been some variation on the saucer and cigar shapes of Jefferies’ design. To fans, the original model is considered a “material touchstone of the Trek canon,” Weitekamp says. “It’s a living cultural object.”
The model arrived at the Air and Space Museum in 1974. It came in a box, disassembled and dirty. To the curators, it was nothing more than a prop from a canceled television show that was a nice example of what human space flight might look like. They restored the model and hung it up for display.
As the Trekiverse grew, along with the number of fans, the Smithsonian’s Enterprise became a popular stop in the Air and Space Museum. Weitekamp gets regular complaints from fans and collectors about how the Air and Space Museum displays the the model. They offer money and manpower for what they consider to be a better restoration. She always turns them down. “It’s not broken,” she says.
However, for those that do ask about the model’s length, she has the number cold: 135-inches long.
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It most certainly *is* broken. The current hideous paint job looks *nothing* like the orginal filming miniature used to create the series.
It really horrifies me that the Smithsonian is OK with altering the appearance of an artifact they are supposedly preserving. Hey, wouldn’t Lincoln’s trademark stovepipe hat be cooler if it were leopard print with a flourescent green fake fur hat band? Wouldn’t The Spirit of St. Louis look much faster with flames and racing stripes painted on the sides? I know, let’s photoshop Barney the Dinosaur into historic photos to make them more kid friendly!
Comment by B.J. West — July 21, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
The model certainly has been defaced. It NEVER looked the way it does in the above picture. Presenting the model in this marred fashion violates the Smithsonian’s mission to display artifacts in their original state.
Comment by Ron Headley — October 3, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
The “restorer” had his own agenda and made the model look like He thought it should! So much for historical accuracy! Seeing the model at the museum was the highlight of our trip to DC. Unfortunately even though the sheer size of the Enterprise is spectacular to view in person seeing that “paint job” makes it also quite sad! Why the Smithsonian chose to approve this restoration is beyond comprehension! Go ahead and paint the Wright Bros. flyer in WW1 German camo! That would look cool too! NOT!!!
Comment by M.Barnes — December 12, 2009 @ 2:10 am
What a HACKJOB. “It’s not broken”? It would look better painted all white than what that guy did to it. It is nowhere near it’s original color or weathering, and needs to be fixed.
Comment by EAGLE — January 21, 2010 @ 5:04 am
Not only that, the so called “weathering” looks like exactly what it is- purple streaks with an airbrush. Nothing realistic about that “paint job” whatsoever. What a HACK.
Comment by EAGLE — January 21, 2010 @ 5:11 am