At the end of April, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise arrived in New York. Yesterday, it was carried up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, a World War II aircraft carrier converted into a museum.
The trip on the Hudson River, which should be the last for the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise, lasted a few days with some delay due to bad weather. From the John F. Kennedy International Airport, last Sunday the Enterprise started its journey, transported for a trait by a barge and then transferred to another one which brought the Space Shuttle prototype to the Intrepid museum.
During the trip, there was also an embarrassing accident, luckily without serious consequences for the Enterprise. Last Monday, during the first leg of its trip to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, the barge carrying the Enterprise passed under several bridges, a couple of which offered very little room for maneuver. When passing under a narrow railway bridge, the wind drove the Enterprise right wing against the barrier side of the bridge.
Luckily, the damage wasn’t serious and the Enterprise wing was quickly patched in order to continue the journey of the Space Shuttle, which arrived yesterday to the Intrepid Museum, where it was loaded on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier. The arrival was greeted by a crowd which gathered on the banks of the Hudson River to see the Enterprise, showing that despite everything there’s still interest in space travel.
Actually, the Enterprise never flew into orbit because it was a prototype built for various kinds of tests for the Space Shuttle program. Among these tests there were the ones in the atmosphere, where it was carried by one of the two Shuttle Carrier Aircrafts, the Boeing 747 specially modified to transport the Space Shuttles.
Next month, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise will start being exhibited to the public at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. A special structure to exhibit the Enterprise is scheduled to be built.
Although it never completed space missions, the Enterprise is a part of the history of the Space Shuttle program and consequently of space exploration so it deserves to be be exhibited in a museum.
