In 2019, Retro 51 was proud to partner with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission and to commemorate the brave men and women who made such an achievement possible. We are excited to announce that Retro 51 and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation have partnered again to honor those who continue to reach for the stars with the Space Shuttle Enterprise Tornado.
 
According to Astronaut Fred Haise, Commander of three successful free flights and independent landings of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, “The test flights with the Space Shuttle Enterprise provided several important benefits to the overall Space Shuttle Program. They served to generate positive NASA media during the gap between Apollo Soyuz and the delayed first orbital mission.” The success of the Enterprise’s missions allowed for future Space Shuttle travel and provided a beneficial “Early identification of problems and maturing of the challenging new multi computer digital system,” said Commander Haise.  The Space Shuttle Enterprise and future Space Shuttle missions re-ignited the country’s passion for space travel and inspired a new generation.
 
The Enterprise Space Shuttle's graphics are printed on the Tornado's stainless barrel that is protected by a  gloss varnish and finished with black nickel accents. Each Tornado is engraved with a limited edition number in a series of 1958. This number is significant for the year that NASA was created. The top disc has the Astronaust Scholarship Foundation's logo and it's loaded into a graphic commemorative tube.