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| Obi-Wan
Action Figure Flown on SpaceShipOne |
Obi-Wan
in Package Before Being Autographed |
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| On October 4, 2004 as SpaceShipOne was
sailing into the record books, I was watching the live coverage of the
flight from my laptop computer at work. The power of the Internet
has made viewing historic events such as this flight much more
accessible. This artifact is a poseable Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure that was flown on the SpaceShipOne Ansari X-Prize winning flight on October 4, 2004. It was flown on the behalf of Burt and Tonya Rutan with the express purpose of being auctioned to raise money for the local Mojave charities. This figure was consigned for auction on eBay and the auction closed on August 23, 2005. The description of the lot from this auction stated: ‘Obi-Wan
Kenobi’
Triple-Autographed Action Figure Flown in Space Aboard SpaceShipOne on Record-Breaking Ansari X-Prize Flight, October 4, 2004 One of the most collectable Star Wars figures of all time! This is a flown item! Proceeds to benefit charity About the figure: Two Star Wars Action Figures were flown aboard SpaceShipOne by test pilot Brian Binnie on the final flight that sealed a win for the $10 Million Ansari X-Prize. This is Obi-Wan Kenobi, the second figure. The first action figure, Luke Skywalker, has already been auctioned. This is the last one left. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a
large size 12” poseable action figure by Hasbro, dressed in his
original Jedi garb with blue lightsaber and flowing brown tunic.
He is part of the New Hope "Tatooine Encounter" collection.
He is autographed by SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan and
pilot-astronauts Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie. About the X-Prize: To win the X- Prize, competitors were required to privately finance, build and launch a spaceship able to carry three people to 100 kilometers (62.5 miles); return safely to Earth; and repeat the launch with the same ship within 2 weeks. Test pilot Mike Melvill vertical-rolled SpaceShipOne to 337, 500-feet (64.2 miles) on September 29, 2004, successfully completing the first of the two X-Prize flights. Five days later Brian Binnie rocketed SpaceShipOne straight up to 367,442-feet (69.6 miles) to claim the prize. About flown items on SpaceShipOne: Scaled Composites built two
ballast boxes to ride in the backseat of SpaceShipOne behind the
astronaut-pilot. Company employees were given the opportunity to fly an
envelope of personal keepsakes aboard SpaceShipOne as ballast. There
was one caveat —folks shouldn't fly items they planned to sell unless
the proceeds benefited charity. THIS IS ONE OF VERY FEW ITEMS FLOWN ABOARD SPACESHIPONE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. 100% of the proceeds from the auction minus eBay's selling fees will be given directly to The Rocketboosters, a division of the Mojave Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit organization. As per eBay's requirements, a letter of permission is scanned and attached below the rest of the images. The proceeds will then be
evenly divided by The Rocketboosters among the following Mojave local
charities:
Each one of these non-profit groups helped out tremendously during the first flight to space and the two Ansari X-Prize flights. The Prize Package: The auction includes a notarized jurat with affiant statement by Burt and Tonya Rutan. (this serves as a “certificate of authenticity”). The action figure will also include an array of merchandise donated by Mojave Air and Space Collectibles, including unique items not available for purchase by the general public. The figure comes with its original packaging as seen below. The packaging may be signed as well. The Earth To The Moon Air & Space Museum acquired this artifact from the eBay auction. |