Starship Enterprise restored to its 1960s glory, now on display at Smithsonian

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — The starship Enterprise has landed.

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the launch of the original "Star Trek" series and the 40th anniversary of the opening of the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian has placed the model of the U.S.S. Enterprise back on display.

After a two-year mission to boldly restore the model to the condition it was in at the end of filming of the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" in 1967, the model now sits in a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled case in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall.

According to the museum, the model's internal motors are functional and new LED lights will power on at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. each day. Industrial Light & Magic staff assisted with the detailing.

The model has been displayed by the Air and Space Museum since the building opened in 1976, where it was originally placed at the entrance of the Life in the Universe gallery before ultimately ending up in the gift shop. Prior to being housed at the Smithsonian, it had only been publicly displayed once at a 10-day Space Week exhibition in Huntington Beach, California.

Other restoration efforts, most recently in the 1990s, have received mixed reviews from fans in the past, but the museum hopes the effort to recreate the Enterprise's original camera-ready form will win the approval of Trekkies everywhere.

"It's an iconic artifact, so we're really treating this as something that is, it needs to be preserved and treated as authentically as possible," Malcolm Collum, the chief conservator of the National Air and Space Museum, told NPR.

The ceremonial reopening of the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall will take place during the celebration of the National Air and Space Museum's 40th birthday on July 1. The event is expected to air on C-SPAN 3 and activities will be streamed live online throughout the night.

Two members of the advisory committee that oversaw the restoration of the U.S.S. Enterprise will introduce a midnight showing of the film Galaxy Quest.