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.