We did it! The unveiling was brilliantly managed by Space Center Houston. They view Galileo as the centerpiece of a collection showing the linkage between science fiction and actual managed space flight. I issued a public challenge - that Galileo needed "friends" and that they should start to enhance the collection showing more of how Sci-Fi, and Star Trek in particular, inspired engineers, doctors, technicians and of course space flight. Notable to Star Trek fans, Don Marshall from the original Galileo 7 episode gave a speech and announced "This is Galileo!" Robert Picardo, of Voyager, joined as did a number of of other Trek and Sci-Fi actors. And we had an honest to gosh Astronaut - Mike Fincke, who holds the American record for most time in space. Wow! What an elegant, heroic gentleman. Of special note, major contributors to the project also flew to Houston to attend, incuding Dave Arland and Will Smith. We are working on a date for Gene Winfield, the original builder, to visit - now THAT would be a reunion. After the unveiling SCH continued with additional events, and the next day treated the family to a tour of Johnson Space Center. NOTE - this is called the "Level 9 tour" and is not to be missed. Enjoy the pictures - and let's support Space Center Houston as they begin to build their display/programs linking sci-fi to space travel. Here's "under the cover"... And the best part - Galileo appears in a cloud of smoke. Beauty shot. Poster for the event to discuss the history and restoration. Poster for the event showing key contributors. The crowds... With Robert Picardo - Thanks Bob! We took an original piece of Galileo - and a nonused logo exactly like the one on the ship - and made a "celebrity sign in board". The next day, Galileo was up in Mission Control! Always cool to get 15 minutes of fame. The panel, held in one of the large theatres. And with thanks to our sponsor!!
Thanks for posting. More importantly, thanks for everything you and the entire team did to make it possible. What a thrill it must have been to be part of the unveiling ceremony. I hope to get out there to see her one day.
The final results are well worth the wait, fantastic work here! It's really good for the Galileo to have a happy ending after all these decades of uncertainty. On a tech-related note - is a record anywhere of the dimensions of the prop? A few years back Cloudster did some work on the numbers http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STShuttlecraft/ShuttlecraftPlans/GalileoVaultExteriorPlans.htm How accurate are the figures for length, height etc, now we have the actual item?
These are the kinds of things I'd like to know. I do know that Gary Kerr is working on R2's 1/32 scale Galileo supposedly coming out next year. He did a fantastic job on the 1/350 TOS Enterprise so we should get a good shuttlecraft replica.