After eight months of restoration, we (Adam and Leslie Schneider) held the unveiling of Star Trek's original Galileo shuttle on Saturday June 22, in front of about 350 avid fans. Galileo was presented in her repair bay at Master Shipwrights of Atlantic Highlands NJ. The fully restored shuttle reused as much of the original material as could be saved. Extensive research was performed to duplicate the ship as it first appeared in her premier episode, "The Galileo Seven". There was press coverage from multiple sources. The shuttle had been thought lost forever as little as 18 months ago. Adam Schneider, Leslie Schneider, and Hans Mikaitis from Master Shipwrights made brief speeches. In addition, a video showing the history of the ship on Star Trek and the restoration was shown on a large scale TV. Adam announced the donation of Galileo to Space Center Houston, where it is scheduled to go on display July 31, 2013. Visitor reaction was extremely positiive. The shuttle showed beautifully and fans got the opportunity to see her in detail. Here is the link for the speeches: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=3FPVo_pTIH8 Here is the link for the video showing the history of Galileo and the restoration process: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=KWafM0BPYHU Here are a few pictures... Here is the prepared text for my speech: Hello my name is Adam Schneider. I’ve been called a STAR TREK SUPERFAN and I guess today is the proof of that! Welcome to the unveiling of the restored Shuttlecraft Galileo! I’d like to start by thanking my wife Leslie and our children for their support, patience, and understanding. This has been a big project, unlike anything done before, and I’m very proud of how you helped and supported it. And thank you, friends and fans, for visiting. I saw Star Trek when it first ran on TV, and was immediately hooked. They had giant space ships – aliens – ray guns – doomsday machines – and it became a lifelong “thing”. Something to enjoy watching on TV. OH, and they had a shuttle. Over the years STAR TREK spawned 12 movies, 700 TV episodes and more importantly the vision of our future in space. A few quotes… “Beam me up, Scotty”. “Live Long and Prosper”. “Warp Speed” are evidence of the show’s impact almost 50 years later. In 2006 Christie’s auctioned original STAR TREK costumes and props. I visited “to check it out” and in the lobby was the ENTERPRISE. I was hooked. It was like a chick imprinting on its mother. Those were the “real” miniature space ships from the shows and movies. I started collecting and became the “model guy”. The Shuttlecraft Galileo was built in 1966 for the first season. It burst on without precedent as never before had a spaceship been shown with a dedicated landing craft. Many think the term “space shuttle” comes from Galileo. Galileo was used in seven original STAR TREK series episodes – carrying Spock’s father from the planet Vulcan, exploring a giant space amoeba, battling a planet eater, and hijacked by space hippies -- and was destroyed over and over again. (a parallel to real life.) It was built by AMT by car industry legend Gene Winfield. By the way Gene is still at work customizing hot rods and provided advice to the restoration. After STAR TREK ended Galileo was donated to a school and then sold several times. An auction of the iconic prop was held in 2012. This was unprecedented – THE major prop, from the original STAR TREK, and a space ship…. It has been called the most significant prop in TV history “out in the wild”. And of course, we bought it. I was the “model guy”. Our plan was to restore Galileo and donate her to a location where FANS could visit. By the way - I was advised by many that it was too far gone to fix. Too many years had passed. Too much had gone wrong. It was going to be too hard. Well, you be the judge on how we did! To be honest, when we saw it we felt Galileo could not stand another halfhearted restoration. This was it. This beautiful, historic and iconic prop was nearly gone. On behalf of all of us who have been inspired by STAR TREK, who believe of its vision of man working in space, we undertook this project to give Galileo a secure future. In that spirit we commissioned Master Shipwrights to work their magic. Restoring Galileo was unlike any project I had performed, and I do projects for a living. Fortunately, we found old-world craftsman right here in New Jersey who had the skills, expertise, tooling, facilities, and of course ability for a project of this size. This is a first - the craftsmen from Master Shipwrights have made many vessels seaworthy but never before spaceworthy. The Shuttlecraft Galileo could have been in no better hands than the artisans at Master Shipwrights. We had a lot of help. We studied construction photos, reviewed set photos, examined all the videos, compared to fan-created plans, spoke to previous owners, and carefully matched the prop itself. I want to thank the industry professionals and especially fans whose loving attention was of great assistance. There are so many I won’t name names, but THANK YOU. Now the work is complete. We believe this is a faithful restoration built to the highest standards. I’m extremely grateful to Hans Mikaitis and his crew for pouring their time, energy and skill into this project. Despite spending nearly 50 years mostly outdoors, Galileo is now ready for her next journey. We are donating the restored Shuttlecraft Galileo to Space Center Houston, the Visitor Center for NASA, to show the linkage between science fiction and the actual manned space program. We are proud to be donating Galileo to a facility where it will inspire a future generation of dreamers, scientists, and astronauts. This is fitting, in light of STAR TREK’s vision as the future of the space program, and completes the journey for this iconic piece. Galileo will be inspiring a new generation at the best possible home: the gateway of our manned space program. AND ONE MORE THING. IN A FEW MOMENTS WE WILL DEDICATE GALILEO – TO YOU, THE FANS OF STAR TREK. Here is the prepared text for Leslie's speech: Hi, I'm Leslie, Adam' s wife. First, I'd like to thank our family and friends for turning out today to celebrate the completion of the Galileo restoration with us. People often ask me what i really think about my husband's great passion for Star Trek. Well, to me, the best part of Star Trek has alway been all the people we have met along the way. So to everyone here today, old friends, new friends, welcome! Next, I' d like to thank Hans and the Master Shipwrights team. They are the real heroes in this adventure. Their expertise has made this renovation a resounding success! So i'd like to give a big shout out to Hans, Kenny, John, mark, Mario, frank, Dennis and Bill. They are available for pictures and autographs! I'd next like to thank my husband Adam. Without your vision and courage this project would not have happened. I must admit that even I thought you might be getting in over your head with this project, but you did it! We did it! You are amazing! And lastly, to you Galileo. You have been under our careful stewardship for about a year now. In that time, we have restored you to the glorious ship that you were meant to be. And now it is time for Adam and me to say goodbye to you. You are off to your new permanent home, in Space Center Houston, where you will be seen by about 700,000 people every year. I hate to admit this but I think that Adam & I will miss you! Live long and prosper Galileo, and warp speed to Houston! Additional pictures to follow!
A missing piece of my childhood has been found, restored and returned to us. Thank you so much for this. This means so much to an old Trekkie like me. Thank You, Dave
"Out of curiosity, how much of the shuttle is original, and how much is new/re-fabricated/replicated?" The restoration vs. recreation classification seems to be a really touchy-issue for those behind this.
The only thing replaced was the rotten wood and masonite. The entire structural part of the Galileo is original including the nacelles, wings, landing gear and interior steel frame. I compare it to replacing rotted siding on the outside of your house. That doesn't affect the structure or change the shape and certainly does not classify your home as rebuilt. That's my opinion and I know others have a different point of view but regardless; the Galileo is finally once again in great condition. I wish folks could appreciate and focus on that instead of pointless nonsensical arguing.
My apologies, I haven't been following this too closely. Regardless of my personal opinion of restoration vs. recreation, I do think it's very cool project.
I hope the original paneling was kept somewhere? At least the parts that had the original paintwork on them.