First, the 1701st Fleet was invited down to the Houston Space Center for the unveiling of the newly restored shuttlecraft Galileo, from the original Star Trek series. It has been in severe disrepair when it was purchased at auction by Adam Schneider. He took the ship to Master Shipwrights, Inc, who restored it to even better condition than it was when it was used in the show. The Schneider family ended up donating the restored prop to Space Center Houston, where it was installed as a permanent exhibit. It will eventually be in an area that will be built to look like the shuttle bay of the Enterprise, within the Sci-Fi Cafe at NASA.
The unveiling was attended by lots of sci-fi stars, including Don Marshall, who played Lt. Boma in the original "Galileo Seven" episode, Tracy Skoggins, from Star Trek and Babylon 5, Sylvester McCoy from Doctor Who, Robert Picardo, from Star Trek: Voyager, and many others. There were also real NASA scientists and astronauts there, as well, welcoming the Galileo to its new home. The 1701st acted as Honour Guard for the unveiling, so we had front-row seats for the entire event.
An original piece of the unrestored hull was saved, and the celebrities in attendance were asked to sign it:
Spacesuit!
Just a few days after the NASA event was Space City Con, a multi-fandom sci-fi con. The 1701st was there running a recruitment table. We had a prime spot, right next to the MechCorps setup, so we had a lot of foot traffic by our table.
The 501st, USS Joshua, IKV Melota, and several other fan groups from across the sci-fi spectrum all made an excellent showing. There was some truly spectacular costuming to be seen!
The USS Joshua and 501st had brought out some top-notch set reconstructions for people to take photos with. The 501st had brought a section of the Deathstar's hallway (which I, unfortunately, didn't get a picture of), and the Joshua had brought the Stargate, the TARDIS, and a holodeck arch!
The best, most exciting set piece was, of course, the bridge of the Enterprise-D, which had been lovingly rescued and restored by the Save the Bridge project. It was set up in Artist's Alley and was free to take pictures with. They were unveiling the newly restored tactical crescent, and I had a little bit of a fangirl moment when I got to sit in Picard's actual captain's chair!
The entire weekend was a lot of fun. I had the chance to meet some really great people, talk shop with prop and set builders, and hang out with members of the 1701st that I don't get to see very often, or hadn't met in person before. There were events and guest for every manner of sci-fi fan, from Power Rangers to Star Trek and everything in between. I will definitely be making a trip back next year!
So much fun!!
ReplyDeleteWell it's nice to know NASA cares about geek stuff...
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