Enterprise arrives in NY

[Shikarnov]

The original test space shuttle, Enterprise flew into the Big Apple on Friday (April 27) atop a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The air- and spacecraft duo touched down at New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport at 11:22 a.m. EDT (1522 GMT) following a photogenic flyover of some of the metropolitan area's most famous sights, including the Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, which Enterprise will soon call home.

Enterprise, mounted to NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), took off from Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. at 9:39 a.m. EDT (1339 GMT). The nearly two-hour flight had been delayed for several days due to weather concerns.

See the Enterprise shuttle's flyover of New York from many different vantage points on NBC News' Storify photo gallery.

Link

 

[Alrik]

End of an era. Last time I saw Enterprise was in DC, last spring.

 

[Galileo7]

Agree, end of an era. As a boy in 1977, I still remember watching the televised Enterprise atmosphere tests with it being released from a 747 shuttle carrier. Sad the NASA space shuttle program is over with no NASA program to follow.

 

[Alrik]

Just caught an interview with Nimoy from this morning on FOX. He was invited to be at JFK for Enterprise's arrival.

 

[Dr. Chandra]

Just caught an interview with Nimoy from this morning on FOX. He was invited to be at JFK for Enterprise's arrival.

Link

"When this ship was first built, it was named Constitution," Nimoy said. "'Star Trek' fans can be very persuasive. They sent a lot of letters to President Gerald Ford and the president logically decided that the ship should be named after our spaceship Enterprise."

 

[Lindley]

In a way it's a shame they didn't keep the name Constitution. That way, if one of the later orbiters ended up with the name Enterprise, it would also be Constitution-class.

 

[doubleohfive]

Some pictures from one of my trips to see the Enterprise, back in 2006.

BDF was in town, so we spent the day out at the Udvar-Hazy Center. She took this photo.

I took this one, from the adjoining balcony; notice that the wings are missing components. The museum guide explained that NASA had removed those portions of the wing structure to study/reverse engineer what had contributed to the destruction of Columbia.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Took some as well when I was there 2 years ago.

 

[Paulcpick]

I still think its crap that Houston's not getting a shuttle.

 

[Kira's Mom]

Yeah, I don't understand that, either.

I'm just glad D.C. got Discovery, instead of just giving up Enterprise. Glad I got to see Enterprise while it was in D.C., though!

 

[Paulcpick]

I dont see why the East Coast needs 3 Shuttles, especially with 2 of em within 250 miles of each other, thats just ridiculous.
Put the shuttles in, or near citys that actually contributed to The Shuttle Program.
So that would be Cape, Houston, LA, and DC.

 

[Lumi]

I was so excited when I was watching the coverage of this. Leonard Nimoy! <3

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I agree with you 100%, your placement makes so much more sense.

I dont see why the East Coast needs 3 Shuttles, especially with 2 of em within 250 miles of each other, thats just ridiculous.
Put the shuttles in, or near citys that actually contributed to The Shuttle Program.
So that would be Cape, Houston, LA, and DC.

 

[Non Sync]

I thought I read somewhere that Houston took it for granted that they would get one. I was a little surprised the Intrepid got it due to space issues at the site.

Too bad they made the push to rename the Constitution to Enterprise as it ended up being a shuttle that never left the atmosphere.

 

[M'Sharak]

Agree, end of an era. As a boy in 1977, I still remember watching the televised Enterprise atmosphere tests with it being released from a 747 shuttle carrier. Sad the NASA space shuttle program is over with no NASA program to follow.

Here's a pic taken a little before flight testing began, and another taken immediately following Enterprise's second free flight test.

 

[Trekker4747]

Sigh, the shuttle. What a glorious vehicle.

Love Nimoy's speech at the NYC ceremony.

 

[Squiggy]

Yeah, I don't understand that, either.

I'm just glad D.C. got Discovery, instead of just giving up Enterprise. Glad I got to see Enterprise while it was in D.C., though!

I dont see why the East Coast needs 3 Shuttles, especially with 2 of em within 250 miles of each other, thats just ridiculous.
Put the shuttles in, or near citys that actually contributed to The Shuttle Program.
So that would be Cape, Houston, LA, and DC.

The mentality was giving the shuttles to places where it would be appreciated by the most people...and Kennedy.

 

[Magic_Al]

Bump for some interesting photos of the rarely-seen interior of Space Shuttle Enterprise, including its "dedication plaque": Grumman Aerospace Corp, Bethpage, Long Island, New York, model B902 serial number 001.

http://greasermike.blogspot.com/2012/07/inside-space-shuttle-enterprise.html