No other ship in any other science fiction setting had the presence, the grace, and the beauty of the original Enterprise.

"She's a beautiful lady and we love her!" - James T. Kirk, TOS episode 'I Mudd.' Star Trek has had a lasting effect on our culture. I was once witness to a comment by the Chief Engineer of the ship I was serving in when, after he had received a serious chewing out from our Captain after failing an exercise I overheard him mutter "Where's the Transporter Room on this bucket? I want to get off."

The TV series inspired so many people to go into the field of space and exploration. There's once an interview with Scotty and they talked about how many people had told him they became engineers just because of his role in Star trek. This was a show that inspired!

I'm very glad She is, at last, safe and secure, and in original condition, being cared for the way She deserves.

It's good to know that this piece is still well preserved. The Starship Enterprise and her crew had a profound impact on science, technological developments and space exploration. The original studio model does indeed deserve ist place among historical legends in the museum.

my dad worked with this model in the 1960s for the show. neat to see they are taking care of it.

Thank you (also) Lucille Ball & Desi Arnez for believing in the Star Trek series, when no one else would at that early time. DesiLui Studios!

She is part of our history and remains part of our future. Thank you National Air & Space Museum, for giving her care, and a well deserved home.

Went to the Air and Space Museum this last August and finally got to meet the real Enterprise. She truly is a beautiful lady.

Still an amazing model and a stunning iconic design five decades on. Terrific restoration work to all those involved :)

Beautifully Done, many will enjoy it for years to come! Many Thanks!

Thank you for showing it proper respect.....Finally!

There is no telling how many millions of miles that ship has traveled in the inspired minds of people all over the world. She deserves a front and center place in the hall for all time.

Gene Roddenberry would be pleased.

I'm simultaneously getting chills and on the verge of crying. I'm so happy they gave this model the treatment it deserved. She looks beautiful, and I look forward to seeing her again in person (the last time being in the basement gift shop, unlit and with that horrible, over-weathered paint job). Super-cool they've shared the color scheme with modelers.

They have done a wonderful restoration job!

Thank you for doing such a marvelous job restoring this iconic, beloved model that is so inspiring for so many people. It warms my heart to know that it still exists so many decades after it’s creation and is being properly preserved.

Gorgeous paint job. I'm thankful that they cared so much.

I am very glad to see that this historic piece of television history has been preserved. "Star Trek" was decades ahead of its time, and it's good to see things from the show being preserved. The original shuttlecraft, "Galileo," has also been restored and preserved as well, although it's not at the museum but in private hands.

This Model means so much to us all. It inspired our youth to think "Space", to think "Beyond our current Troubles" and "To the Future"!

She's a thing of beauty.

I am so happy that they have preserved this model .The TV show captured my imagination as a young boy and to this day I still enjoy watching the original series . Imagine if 5000 years from now if this survives (and us as a species) how amazed people will be if this concept and design was actually developed. Gene Roddenberry was brilliant.

Still love the Original Star Trek series, always has and always will be the best show over them all, and what proceeded it.

That is sooooo much better then the last so-called restoration!

Thank you Matt Jeffries

I think its very rare and awesome to see the Original Enterprise in all its glory being restored and put on display for everyone to see and enjoy, its the REAL deal not a knock off replica which makes it even more desirable.

I saw the original model at my Junior College back in 1972 when they had a Science and Sci-fi day. They also had the shuttle, as well as actual Moon rocks which incidently was guarded by two Marines.

OMG Awesome restoration job! The Starship Enterprise!! Star Trek my favorite show of all time! Thank you for saving her!

Beautifully done! Thumbs up👍

I absolutely love your restoration with the internal lighting, etc! I first saw it in 1986 when I was 20 yrs old but it wasn't as dynamic as it is now! I think it was under the staircase back then! Thank you for restoring and keeping it! I look forward to seeing it again soon!

I was a kid when the original show was the ONLY Star Trek that existed. That they care this much makes me so happy.

There are two "space ships" that can make me misty-eyed. One is ANY space shuttle. The other is the Enterprise. The depth of affection and warmth I feel toward them can't be overstated.

Those cracks in the paint? Nothing to worry about. That ship has been through MANY battles...and the cracks are just some stress fractures from all those Klingon disrupter and Romulan plasma hits. She's a tough ship!

Back in 2001 we had this exact model at my work, near out motion capture stage. I worked as an animator at a company called Foundation Imaging. I was working on a different show, but the Star Trek Voyager guys were busy updating the effects for Star Trek The Motion Picture for a re-release dvd. They requested the model and we had it for a few months....they claimed they needed it for reference purposes, but in reality they just wanted to see it up close and not behind glass at a museum (we are all nerds at heart). We were told if we touched or damaged the ship we'd be out of a job. :) This was long before the model was restored, it was definitely showing some age though I don't remember cracks in the paint or anything.

That is cool. Now when someone invents warp drive. They will have a ship model to go by. 😁

beautiful restoration of a national icon...

Looks like they did a fine job with no tribble at all😊

What an outstanding job everyone did, it really looks great! Congratulations!!

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein.

She is absolutely gorgeous! I wish they made model kits that size! =-D

Great work and bigrespect to the restaurators !

those coloured lights at the front of the nacelles are pure 60's gold, love it.

Great Job with the restoration!!!

Very cool. Been a Trekkie forever. Dad and I were glued to the TV every week. I think my Mom thought we were nuts, but she came around eventually. LOL!!

Historic and Epic: The USS Enterprise.

Great job restoring the Big E! I wish there was a way a modeler like me could get color and blinking references for the lights in the nacelles.

So good to see all the lights working again too.

I have always lived far away from it but I've been to the Smithsonian several times and I always remember it Hanging above the doors to the theaters downstairs and I would always stand there and look at it for a long period of time. Such a cool model and piece of history. Glad they restored it.

A ship well worth preserving- GREAT JOB

It thrilled me when I was a kid and the museum opened to see the Enterprise hanging there. I felt much the same thrill couple years ago when we went through Air and Space and there she was right out in front in her new display case. Brought tears to my eyes.

THANK YOU for removing those hideous grid lines! 💜

This is very nice. I love it!

I don’t care what they do with this craft in *Discovery* *THIS* will always be the lady who my heart belongs to. “No A, B, C or bloody D!” “Treat her like a lady, she’ll always bring you home.”

Absolutely brilliant what has been done here. Those of us who are gone, those of us who are still here, and those of us yet to be born, will undoubtedly marvel at the story, the history, the beauty, and the 'promise' of what NCC- 701 was, still is, and ever will be. Hope.

Good video. Lady knows her stuff . No explanation about the navigation dish problems

I have never been to that museum. Now I have a reason to visit.

It looks like a return visit to Washington, DC needs to be in my future planning.

I'll never be able to see her in person. What matters far more is knowing that she's there. I am no more than a moment. She is the sturdier vessel. She is the hope of past and future, the dream so many share.

A beautiful thing to see. Thank you ABC News.

Thanks to ALL that worked on Her Matt Jeffries .... We'll Name a part of the ship in your Honor . As they use to say in the 60's Tubular Man !!!

Beautiful ship... I mean model. But it will always feel like a ship to me.

One fine lady with a great crew.

Brings a tear to the eye... Thank you.

Guess I’m going to have make a special trip to DC this year just to see her!!

Really cool, and totally appropriate to house it in the Smithsonian.

Beautiful and important work...this ship is legend...and one day.....it will be as real as Apollo, Gemini, Mercury or the Space Shuttle.

What a Awesome restoration for the Museum!

It’s wonderful to know she’s safe and well-taken care of!

She's a beauty. Now and always.

She's both a legend and a gorgeous brauty. Dhe made the ❤️ of so many trekkies beat faster. As a lovely museul peace, she gets the honour she deserves!👍

This pleases me to no end!

It's really nice to see this project completed and the model's appearance so beautifully restored. I saw the model there, where it was on display in the gift shop after the previous restoration, and whoever did that one really went much too heavy on the weathering. I'd read that the rationale for that was that the model was thought to have looked like that during series production, but that level of detail didn't come through given the 16mm film on which the effects were shot, and the standard definition CRT TVs people watched the show on back then. I still think the weathering was much too heavy. Now it looks right. Pity they can't acquire the movie refit model, give it the same treatment, and put it on display next to the original one.

I seen her in the Smoke Smithsonian around 40 years ago, great that they are restoring her she still a very beautiful ship, and probably the most recognizable ship in all the world even though she is a fictional ship everyone knows the Enterprise !!!

Looks gorgeous with all the lighting intact.

Incredible Job. Beautiful.

"You treat her like a lady; and she'll always bring you home".

Margaret, I hope you read this: Thank you so much for this. You are clearly a fan and I'm so happy that you got to add this project to your wonderful career. This ship means so much to me and so many others (I have a smaller version in my office) :) Great job and well done!

Amazing. By the end of the video it looks really beautiful.

Seeing this in person as a Star Trek fan, it is amazing. There are a few surprises that i wasn't aware of, but I was happy to see it in person.

Came all the way from Australia to see the model at the smithsonian in 1993 only to discover they had lent it out to The Hayden Planetarium in New York..........So thats were I went..

She may be old now but she´s still a beauty and well preserved at last. Star Trek youngsters which now grow up with "Discovery" won´t have the opportunity seeing their favourite space ship this way.

It deserves a spot in the Smithsonian space museum. Star Trek inspired so many to go into science and space exploration

Take good care of our old friend and thanks for giving her the respect she deserves

Beautiful!

I remember the auction. I drooled over the Reliant. A klingon bird of prey would work as well.

It looks fantastic!

The Constitution class Enterprise is still one of the best looking sce-fi space ships

Like it or not, this model is a cultural icon and should be heritage listed as such. Imagine how many Engineers started their careers as little children watching Star Trek.

Scotty would be proud. 🖖

Wow! Just so Wow! Can’t wait to visit one day...

AMAZING!

far better than any CGI

Very cool. I was lucky to have been standing next to the camera when the 1st Tribble was sold on the "space station" Since they were not filming on the "Ship" that day. I was able to wander around the set.

An icon for many who have a love in the field of science and space travel.

In 2005, when the idea of the restoration project began, I remember seeing several photos of this model (by then it was already in the Smithsonian Institution) where it was seen that one side of the ship lacked aesthetic details and even had cables that They were outside the structure, that is, a totally neglected side because it was not filmed in any shot, to save design costs. So the scenes were always filmed with a single profile, then the film was inverted and thus "both sides" were available when only one was filmed. Only some decals were replaced, which were printed in reverse for those reversed shots. By the way, the restoration achieved is excellent, Star Trek was an icon of a generation that was inspired by this magnificent series, including many scientists, astronauts and engineers who have made some things that he anticipated come true.

We just saw it. The starboard side spinning nacelle was stuck. But the ship was beautiful.

It was absolutely worthwhile to recreate the lighting effects. She looks beautiful all lit up.

Although they are probably all gone I wonder what the original model makers would have thought if they knew that their work would be so appreciated.

Of course one good reason to have a fictional space craft on display with all the real ones are that programs like Star Trek inspired some to take a real life interest in science and space travel.

Beautiful! Shame you can't restore the series to it's former glory...