The USS Intrepid Museum in New York might boast being the home of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system, but this weekend, Elche shows of its own little contribution to the space race, as the Miura 1 rocket is on display on the Paseo de la Estación.
The mayor, Pablo Ruz, together with members of the municipal corporation and directors of the Elche aerospace company PLD Space, attended the inauguration of the exhibition on Friday.
The mayor wanted to congratulate PLD Space for the exhibition and “for involving, through it, the people of Elche in a very great feat.”
The Elche aerospace company made history on October 7, 2023, after successfully completing the launch of the first private European rocket. The Miura 1 has made Spain the tenth country in the world with direct space capability.
The exhibition is available until Sunday and mere mortal humans can get up close and personal with the Miura 1 rocket and all the information about the company through information panels, organised guided tours and can also find out about upcoming launches.
The exhibition is open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, while on Sunday its hours will be from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
On Friday morning more than 2,000 schoolchildren were able to enjoy the exhibition.
“The city of Elche and this municipal government feel absolutely proud of what PLD Space has achieved and we are also very grateful because they wanted this project to carry the name of Elche throughout the world,” said the mayor, who also encouraged citizens to come to the Paseo de la Estación to see the rocket up close.
Miura 1 is a suborbital recoverable launch vehicle, 12.7 metres in height with a mass of 2,550 kilograms and propelled by 1,000 litres of liquid oxygen and 600 litres of kerosene.
USS Enterprise has a length of 37.2 metres, stands 17.8 metres tall, with a wingspan of 23.9 metres.
Miura 1 has a payload of 200 kilograms, Enterprise could carry 29,000 kilograms.
Spoiler: After little over 300 seconds of flight, the original “recoverable” vehicle crashed into the Atlantic never to be recovered. For its part, USS Enterprise (OV-101) made 5 successful mission flights.
Spoiler 2: In case you haven’t noticed, yes, I am biased, but in fairness I couldn’t allow my love of the Space Shuttle cloud balance and so therefore I have to admit that Enterprise actually never went to space, as it was a prototype launched off the back of a 747, and in fact… Didn’t even have engines! And yes, I have visited her in New York! Have you?
And, for the avoidance of doubt and disappointment, if you look really closely at the first picture you will be able to see that tiny, little, lightweight pretend Miura 1, which you can visit in Elche this week, dominating the other two pictures are the magnificent, majestic, awe-inspiring Enterprise, which you can visit on the USS Intrepid floating museum in New York.
But go to Elche anyway, it will be fun.
