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Shuttle over Manhattan

Gary7

Vice Admiral
Admiral
Shuttle_Landing-in-NYC.jpg


The Smithsonian museum in Washington DC had the Space Shuttle Enterprise on display for well over a decade. Now it's New York's turn. The prototype craft will be on display at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum, starting this summer.

Of course, this shuttle never went into space. It was a functional prototype for testing operational gliding capabilities. But, from the exterior it's virtually indistinguishable from the other shuttles. Original plans intended to finish upgrading the craft to be put into service, but it was later decided against.

It's kind of sad knowing that the shuttles aren't flying any longer. But they were extremely expensive to manage and service, not being quite as 'reusable' as intended. The capsule based rocket design, though not nearly as glamorous, is the more practical approach for orbital launches.
 
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