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Space Shuttle Enterprise

Enterprise
Enterprise glides to the left in this view, banked slightly towards the camera, showing "United States" on the port side and American flags on the port side and the port wing. Enterprise has a long probe sticking forward of the nose cone for calibration of instruments, and an aeroshell covering the engine area. Most of the backdrop is sky, but at the bottom, the mountainous horizon of California can be seen through haze.
Enterprise in flight in 1977, during ALT-13
TypeSpaceplane
ClassSpace Shuttle orbiter
EponymUSS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Other name(s)Constitution (1975–1977)
Serial no.OV-101
OwnerNASA
ManufacturerRockwell International
History
First flight
  • August 12, 1977 (1977-08-12)
  • ALT-12
Last flight
  • October 26, 1977 (1977-10-26)
  • ALT-16
Flights5
Flight time20 m, 58 s above Earth
FatePrototype
Location
Space Shuttle orbiters

Space Shuttle Enterprise (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747.[1] It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield. As a result, it was not capable of spaceflight.[2]

Originally, Enterprise had been intended to be refitted for orbital flight to become the second space-rated orbiter in service.[1] However, during the construction of Space Shuttle Columbia, details of the final design changed, making it simpler and less costly to build Challenger around a body frame that had been built as a test article.[1] Similarly, Enterprise was considered for refit to replace Challenger after the latter was destroyed, but Endeavour was built from structural spares instead.[1][3]

Enterprise was restored and placed on display in 2003 at the Smithsonian's new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.[4] Following the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, Discovery replaced Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center, and Enterprise was transferred to the Intrepid Museum in New York City, where it has been on display since July 2012.[5]

  1. ^ a b c d Jenkins, Dennis R (2007). Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-9633974-5-4.
  2. ^ Slovinac, Patricia; Deming, Joan (June 2010). Avionics Systems Laboratory/Building 16: Historical Documentation. NASA. JSC-CN-22284. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference name was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center". NASA. October 23, 2003. Archived from the original on January 25, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  5. ^ D'Orazio, Dante (July 18, 2012). "NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise aboard the USS Intrepid in pictures". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2015.

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