Precious Cargo

A little more history was made on October 4, 2004, than what's so far been reported. That day will go down in history as the day Burt Rutan and pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie captured the X-Prize with the first privately built aircraft. But something significant rode along in the cargo hold as ballast, creating a new piece of history – and made a few more dreams come true.

No, we're not talking about aviation ant Klyde. It's true that a Klyde doll made the second of those two record-breaking flights. Instead, it was a bit of history related to another pioneering aviator -- Charles Lindbergh.

In 1984 The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation honored General Jimmy Doolittle with its annual honorary Lindbergh Award for outstanding achievement and individual accomplishment. The event was held in Houston (TX) and through the efforts of Astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to journey into outer space, all seven Mercury astronauts were reunited. Virgil "Gus" Grissom's widow represented her late husband at the event. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the US space program and Lindbergh's interest and involvement in aerospace, Lindbergh Foundation Chairman Jim Newton and Anne Morrow Lindbergh unveiled a bronze sculpture of Charles A. Lindbergh at the Johnson Space Center.

St. Louis sculptor Don F. Wiegand created the sculpture, and was there for the occasion. "After the unveiling," recalled Marilyn Reynolds, who also was at the unveiling, "Alan Shepard said he would like to see that sculpture make a trip into space as an ongoing tribute to Lindbergh, whom he credited with helping to advance man's desire to enter outer space." Twenty years later, the same artist, and ironically, a civilian astronaut made Alan Shepard's desire possible.

"The idea came to me in a dream," said Wiegand. "Ever since that day in 1984, I've dreamt about making Alan Shepard's vision become reality." A few days before the first X-Prize flight Wiegand had an idea that would enable him to honor Alan Shepard's wishes. "The first word that came to my mind when I woke up that morning was ‘ballast,'" said Wiegand. After a series of telephone calls, a stainless steel bas-relief of Charles A. Lindbergh was on its way to Mojave, California, to be loaded onto SpaceShipOne. "This bas-relief was inspired by the original three-dimensional sculpture that was presented to NASA 20 years ago," said Wiegand. "The very one that Alan Shepard talked about." Wiegand's stainless steel bas-relief of the Spirit of St. Louis also went on board, as well as a one-inch silver Spirit of St. Louis lapel pin created to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's New York-to-Paris flight. The Charles A. Lindbergh and Spirit of St. Louis bas-reliefs are the first of their kind to fly into space.

To Wiegand, there is even more significance to having this particular art on board SpaceShipOne. "To me, Lindbergh symbolizes man's ability to believe in himself. He had vision, a dream, and direction. His goal was the Orteig prize. He worked hard. He put the resources together, but he needed the help of others to bring the goal to fruition." Since the X-Prize was modeled after the Orteig prize, these two historic events in aviation will be forever linked. "It seems appropriate then that the Charles A. Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis bas-reliefs were, in a small way, part of this historic achievement," said Wiegand.

The parallels between the prizes are amazing. In both historic flights, new horizons were opened up to the average man. In Lindbergh's time it was commercialized aviation that was brand new. Today, it's privatized space flight. In 1927, the idea of a prize for the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris came from Raymond Orteig. Peter Diamandis was the inspiration behind the X-Prize. Charles Lindbergh garnered financial support from nine St. Louis backers to help him build the Spirit of St. Louis. Burt Rutan's financier was Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. Ryan Airlines and designer Donald Hall were responsible for designing and building the Spirit of St. Louis. Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites, LLC, were the designers of SpaceShipOne. And finally, in each there was a solo pilot. Charles Lindbergh in 1927 — Mike Melvill on the first flight and Brian Binnie on the second.

"We couldn't be more pleased to see this happen," said Lindbergh Foundation President and Chief Operating Officer Marlene White. "As an organization born out of friendship, it warms my heart to know that our friend Don Wiegand was able to honor the late Alan Shepard's wishes in a way that also honors Charles Lindbergh for his historic aviation achievement and Burt Rutan for his newly found place in American aviation history." The Lindbergh Foundation is doubly proud because Burt Rutan received the honorary Lindbergh Award in 2000 for his pioneering contemporary aircraft design and use of modern materials that reduce pollution and improve mileage. "In 2000, we were struck by the similarities between Rutan and Lindbergh, so it is especially poignant for us to witness this historic occasion that was modeled after the prize that put Lindbergh in the minds and hearts of the world," said White. "With Rutan's accomplishment and Lindbergh, in symbolic spirit, riding along in SpaceShipOne, this story has come full circle."

Reflecting on the broader scope of this event and its long-term significance Erik Lindbergh trustee of the X-Prize Foundation and a Lindbergh Foundation director said, "This historic flight is an important stepping stone that gives people the opportunity to dream about the tremendous possibilities of space travel. It is my hope that low cost access to space in the future will facilitate the development of low cost reusable energy that will lessen our demands upon the Earth's resources. Even more importantly, I hope people will become inspired by the residual ‘overview effect,' which describes the shift in perspective that astronauts (and aviators such as my grandparents) express when they view our planet from above. I believe this new perspective will help remind all of us that we are part of a larger interconnected system whose quality of life requires us to balance our technological endeavors with preservation of our environment."

On Saturday, the Charles A. Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis bas-reliefs will be unveiled at a gala event at the St. Louis Science Center, where Burt Rutan will accept the $10 million prize for winning the Ansari X-Prize. The Science Center will then become the first to have the bas-reliefs on display for public viewing, after which they will be available to tour to other museums or organizations across the United States. The Wiegand Foundation, Inc., with co-sponsor FABCO Equipment, Inc., in honor of Joseph G. Fabick and the Fabick family, is responsible for creating the two stainless steel bas-reliefs and the one-inch lapel pin that flew aboard SpaceShipOne. The one-inch pins featuring the Spirit of St. Louis are official reductions of the Spirit of St. Louis bas-relief that flew aboard SpaceShipOne and are available in silver and bronze from the Lindbergh Foundation.

FMI: www.lindberghfoundation.org