“Star Trek’s” original filming model of the USS Enterprise will join the Milestones of Flight exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Currently displayed at the museum store, the starship will make its move in time for the 50th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek," which premiered on NBC in September 1966. It's the first time the museum will include science fiction in the exhibit.

The model's relocation is part of the museum's extensive two-year renovation funded by Boeing, which recently donated $30 million to upgrade exhibits and education programs. Content for mobile devices and digital screens will also be a key part of the museum's refresh.

"We're trying to figure out what the museum needs to do to stay in touch," said J.R. "Jack" Dailey, museum director, in an interview with the Associated Press. "We want to inspire people of all ages to want to know more and to do more."

Milestones of Flight chronicles the development of aircraft and spacecraft, and it includes such notable examples as the first plane to break the sound barrier, Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" aircraft and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules.

With more than seven million visitors a year, the National Air and Space Museum is the nation's most-visited museum.

"Star Trek" art director Matt Jefferies spearheaded the model design of the USS Enterprise; measuring 11 feet 2 inches long, it was built using poplar wood, vacu-formed plastic and rolled sheet metal tubes by a small team of modelmakers supervised by Richard Datin.

In the series, the ship -- manned by a crew of 430 -- grossed 600,000 metric tons and measured 289 meters long.

Paramount Studios donated the model to the museum in 1974.