Star Wars has reached a level of popularity like almost no other geek franchise.
Not only do movie fans hang on everything that happens in the Star Wars universe, but it has now reached a level where science has shown its respect.
The science fiction franchise now has a home at none other than the Smithsonian Museum.
X-Wing Fighter coming to Smithsonian Museum
The Smithsonian Museum will bring an X-Wing Fighter to its hallowed halls.
A new exhibit will open at the Smithsonian Museum in 2022 with an X-Wing Starfighter.
It is impressive to see a science fiction spaceship at the biggest science museum in the United States.
Fans can watch while the X-Wing undergoes conservation at the Restoration Hangar alongside World War II aircraft and other historic airplanes and space vehicles.
Lucasfilm gave the X-Wing Starfighter to the Smithsonian Museum on a long-term loan.
Late in 2022, the film prop will go on display outside the Albert Einstein Planetarium at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
“We are thrilled to have an X-Wing on exhibit,” said Margaret Weitekamp, space history chair at the museum. “It is a real screen-used vehicle from the 2019 film Rise of Skywalker.
“This display speaks to that crossover connection between people who are excited about space flight and have been inspired by the visions Star Wars has been putting out since 1977.”
The X-Wing at the Smithsonian
The X-Wing Starfighter that will display at the Smithsonian Museum has a 37-foot wingspan.
At the moment, the museum is looking at the X-Wing to fix any damage that could have occurred during its transit. The full-sized model was shipped in pieces, and the museum is reassembling it for the release next year.
“This is a T-70 X-Wing,” Weitekamp said. “It’s the next generation. The one Luke Skywalker flew in the original trilogy was a T-65B. The big visible difference is the X-foils that split apart. Each had an engine. The T-70 was designed to include one large engine on each wing. When X-attack formation is deployed, the engine splits into two semi-hemispheres.”
The X-Wing Starfighter will hang from the ceiling at the National Air and Space Museum building.
“Star Wars is a lived-in universe,” Weitekamp said. “This is a battle-scarred X-Wing fighter. We want to distinguish between any scratches that occurred during shipping versus something that was built into the vehicle.”
“I was on the floor looking at it and I pointed out a place where it looked like it had what pilot’s would call ‘hangar rash.’ That’s where you get scrape marks on the side of aircraft when they are moved around. I pointed it out to the conservator, who had a big smile and said, ‘No, that’s simulated. It’s part of the detail by the artist!’”
On top of the upcoming X-Wing Starfighter, the Smithsonian Museum also displayed props and costumes in the “Star Wars: The Magic of Myth” exhibition.
In 2016, a Star Trek exhibit titled “Boldy Go 50” included a studio model of the Starship Enterprise.