

Numerous dignitaries attended, including NASA astronauts Mario Runco Jr., Jeffrey A. And on July 12, 2012, the Intrepid played host to a ribbon-cutting ceremony and public opening of the Space Shuttle Pavilion. Blue Origin was founded by Jeff Bezos with the vision of enabling a future where millions of people are living and working in space for the benefit of. Later, in 2012, the Enterprise made one last trip, a fly-by (on the back of a plane, of course) over New York City, on its way to becoming a permanent fixture at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. NASA retired the Enterprise in the early 1980s and eventually ended up at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. The Enterprise was also subjected to vertical ground vibration tests.The Enterprise shuttle never actually flew in space on its own, but NASA used it perform atmospheric test flights - which it did upon being launched from a modified 747 airplane.
#Space shuttle enterprise flown items series
These tests proved that the shuttle could fly in the atmosphere and land like a plane even though it didn’t have power, similar to a glider. Enterprise was not used for space flight, but rather for a series of landing tests after being flown to altitude on the back of a Boeing 747 jet. Most of these tests revolved around approach and landing.

The following year, the Enterprise began a series of flight tests that would prove invaluable to the future shuttle program. Click here for a photo from the ceremony. However, because of the connection to Star Trek, series creator Gene Roddenberry and several cast members were invited to take part in the dedication ceremony. The rollout was still held on September 17, 1976, in Palmdale, California. Instead, it remained on Earth while NASA constructed newer shuttles to send into space, including Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. Early Enterprise schematics are exceedingly rare, especially those coming from the collection of the NASA Flight Director for the ALT flights. ashes were flown in a small capsule on the space shuttle Columbia's STS-52 mission in 1992. Two Space Shuttles were lost in flight: Challenger (STS-51L) and Columbia (STS-107). lower fly portion in orange (which matches elements of the patch) are the. A total of six Space Shuttles were built: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. Figure 1: View of the Space Shuttle Enterprise during a test flight showing. President Gerald Ford received hundreds of thousands of letters, and was also partial to the name, so he encouraged NASA to change it.Īfter the shuttle was completed, it was ready to be unveiled publicly. A still from the 2009 film 'Star Trek' showing the reimagined U.S.S. Space Shuttle Challenger Flown Insulation Material The Space Shuttle was the first reusable spaceship in the world.

However, fans of the television show Star Trek launched a massive letter-writing campaign requesting that the shuttle be named after the starship from that show, the Enterprise. Initially, the test ship, designated OV-101, was to be named Constitution, and presented to the public on Constitution Day, September 17, 1976. 55.00 Space Shuttle Challenger Flown Insulation Material The Space Shuttle was the first reusable spaceship in the world.
