In a true convergence of space and time, the grandson of Charles Lindbergh is retracing the pioneering solo steps taken 75 years ago, taking to the air to raise awareness about space tourism.

On April 14, Erik Lindbergh, 36, flew the New Spirit of St. Louis from San Diego's Lindbergh Field to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport, named after his grandfather's plane. On April 20, he will fly to Farmingdale, New York. That sets the stage for Lindbergh to remake his grandfather's historic flight to Paris, a 17-21 hour trek over the open ocean.

The New Spirit of St. Louis aircraft features the latest high-tech gear and is electronically linked to ground control personnel. It's a far cry from equipment and support available to go-it-alone Charles Lindbergh in 1927.

One objective of the 21^st century replay of Charles Lindbergh's historic 20^th century sojourn is to call attention to the X Prize and space tourism.

The X Prize is a $10 million prize designed to jumpstart the space tourism industry through competition between entrepreneurs and rocket experts around the world. The cash prize will be awarded to the first team that:

• Privately finances, builds & launches a spaceship, able to carry 3 people to 62.5 miles (100 kilometers) altitude
• Returns safely to Earth
• Repeats the launch with the same ship within 2 weeks

The X Prize competition mimics in spirit and intent more than 100 aviation prizes offered between 1905 and 1935 that helped foster today's multibillion dollar air transport industry.

"My grandfather was motivated to make his flight by a prize that unquestionably helped to open the future of aviation," said Erik Lindbergh. "I am promoting the X Prize because I believe it will help open the door to space travel for the rest of us," he said in a press release.

Erik Lindbergh is a vice president of the X Prize and a Trustee of the group.

"The 1927 flights of the Spirit of St. Louis marked the beginning of the modern age of air travel. Seventy-five years later, a solo transatlantic flight in a small plane is still considered the Mount Everest climb of flying," said Gregg Maryniak, Mission Control Director for the 2002 New Spirit of St. Louis flight.

Maryniak is also Executive Director of the X Prize Foundation, based in St. Louis.

The X Prize is modeled after the Orteig Prize that Charles Lindbergh won in 1927. His original aircraft now hangs from the rafters of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

"Charles Lindbergh's flight 75 years ago this May, was made in response to a $25,000 prize. That's worth about $10 million today at an 8 percent interest rate," said Peter Diamandis, founder and president of the X Prize Foundation said. "Lindbergh's flight created a revolution in air transportation and most notably changed public perception about flying on airplanes. Within a year of Charles Lindbergh's flight, the number of passengers increased 30-fold," he said.

"We are excited that Erik's recreation of his grandfather's flight is helping call attention to the X Prize competition and our plans to change the public's view about space travel. We want to motivate the design and construction of a new generation of spaceships designed to carry the general public into space," Diamandis told SPACE.com.

Regarding the X Prize Foundation's quest to secure $10 million as the prize purse, Diamandis said "major news" is near at hand on this issue. "All is going great," he said.

Meanwhile, groups around the globe are hard at work readying hardware to claim the prize. For example, earlier this year, the Cosmopolis XXI Suborbital Corporation unveiled its C-XXI vehicle.

Sergey Kostenko, the company's chief executive officer, leads the Moscow-based team.

C-XXI is a rocket-powered spaceship that rides to a high altitude on an M-55 aircraft. Separation occurs using a patented separation system at an altitude of 10 miles (17 kilometers), then rockets to higher altitude. C-XXI plans to initially rent the M-55 aircraft for prototype and testing flights and then eventually buy a copy of the M-55 for regular suborbital flight operations, Kostenko said.

The spaceship carries 1 pilot and two paying passengers.

This private venture is done in cooperation with Myasishchev Design Bureau in Russia, which specializes in high altitude aircraft and business jets.

The interior of the spaceship is pressurized, but the passengers are expected to wear pressure suites as a backup. Prototype flights are expected to take place in Russia. But once the system is proven, C-XXI hopes to operate its flights around the world.

A C-XXI flight would last less than 1 hour. The first 30-40 minutes are spent attached to the M-55 aircraft getting to the required altitude. Then the total rocket powered segment of the flight will be about 20 minutes.

C-XXI is specifically designed to open the space tourism market utilizing the talent and available technology in Russia. Kostenko has said, "We are making excellent progress, currently building a full-scale prototype. We hope to win the X Prize and begin worldwide operations," he said.

Maps of Lindbergh's route are here.