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NASA space shuttle embarks on voyage to New Jersey

The space agency’s original prototype orbiter, Enterprise is scheduled to arrive at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum on the west side of Manhattan on Tuesday.

By

Robert Z. Pearlman, SPACE.com /
June 4, 2012

The space shuttle Enterprise, mounted on transport vehicle, is backed into a temporary hanger after being demated from the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamica, New York, May 13.

Kim Shiflet/NASA/Reuters/File



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NASA’s space shuttle Enterprise launched on a voyage Sunday (June 3), going where no space shuttle has gone before: New Jersey.

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The space agency’s original prototype orbiter, Enterprise is scheduled to arrive at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum on the west side of Manhattan on Tuesday (June 5). Leaving Sunday from New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport where it was delivered atop a jumbo jet in late April, the shuttle was barged to Bayonne, N.J., as a layover on its way up the Hudson River.

Enterprise, having first arrived in the Big Apple by air and setting sail Sunday by sea, is only missing the experience of traveling through space to complete the Intrepid’s three modal themes. The first of NASA’s space shuttles, Enterprise did not fly in orbit but instead was used for a series of approach and landing tests in the late 1970s. [Gallery: Enterprise Sails to New Jersey]

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Enterprise embarks

On Saturday, a large crane was used to load the 57,000 pound (26,000 kilogram) prototype shuttle onto the open air flat bed barge, which, towed by tugboat, made the trip to the Garden State the next day. Spectators in Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn, including at Coney Island, lined the shores to watch as Enterprise floated by.

Along the way, the space shuttle Enterprise passed under several crossings, its vertical stabilizer, or tail, clearing the Verrazano Bridge, for example, by a good margin. At others, including the Gil Hodges Memorial, the bridges needed to be raised to allow the shuttle to pass.

The shuttle will stay in Bayonne through Tuesday. On Monday, it’ll be hoisted off its barge onto one equipped with a crane.

Enterprise arrives

On Tuesday (June 5), at 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT), Enterprise is scheduled to depart the Jersey shore to sail for the Intrepid, which is docked at Pier 86 at W. 46th Street and 12th Avenue in New York City.

The shuttle is expected to float past the Statue of Liberty at about 9:50 a.m. EDT (1350 GMT) and the World Trade Center about 50 minutes later prior to traveling the rest of its way up the Hudson River to complete its journey by 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT).

Once positioned alongside the Intrepid, a converted aircraft carrier, Enterprise will be hoisted off the barge and onto the museum’s flight deck.

Starting Wednesday, a climate-controlled steel and fabric shelter will begin being erected over Enterprise, to protect it while on display. The Intrepid’s new “Space Shuttle Pavilion” is scheduled to open to the public on July 19. Tickets for the Enterprise display are on sale now through the museum’s box office and website.

The Intrepid plans to exhibit Enterprise on its flight deck until a permanent display home can be built. The museum is currently accepting donations and soliciting sponsors to create a facility to showcase the shuttle and enhance its other space-related exhibits and educational curriculum.

Visit shuttles.collectspace.com for continuing coverage of the delivery and display of NASA’s retired space shuttles.

Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter @collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman @robertpearlman. Copyright 2012 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

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Article source: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0604/NASA-space-shuttle-embarks-on-voyage-to-New-Jersey

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Space Shuttle ‘Enterprise,’ Shuttle Replica ‘Explorer’ Move In NYC And Houston …

By: Tariq Malik
Published: 06/02/2012 09:33 AM EDT on SPACE.com

A NASA space shuttle prototype and high-fidelity shuttle replica will make some big moves in New York and Houston on Sunday (June 3), and residents in both cities have a chance to spot the winged spacecraft — one by sea and the other by land.

In New York City, NASA’s space shuttle Enterprise will be visible from some of the city’s beaches and coast when it takes a barge from Jamaica Bay to the New York Harbor. The prototype shuttle, which never flew in space but was used in pivotal landing tests, is destined to go on public display Manhattan’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Today, the shuttle will be craned onto its barge for the upcoming sea ride.

While New Yorkers will get to see Enterprise sailing on a barge, the sight of a space shuttle on the water is one some Houston residents have already seen.  The space shuttle replica Explorer arrived at a dock in Houston’s Clear Lake on Friday (June 1), and on Sunday the shuttle will parade its way from the lake to Space Center Houston, a visitor’s center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center that is home the agency’s astronaut corps and Mission Control centers.

Here’s how to see the shuttles in New York City and Houston (Note: All times are dependent on weather and can change with local conditions):

Space shuttle in NYC

For New Yorkers, Enterprise will begin its barge trip at 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT), when the tugboat pulling the ship leaves John F. Kennedy International Airport for the New York Harbor. Enterprise arrived at JFK International on April 27 atop a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet —NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft —and has been awaiting delivery to the Intrepid museum ever since. [Shuttle Enterprise's Voyage to NYC (Photos)]

After shipping out from JFK, Enterprise will make its way toward New York Harbor by traveling along the shore of Queens and Brooklyn. The planned route will bring Enterprise by the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge at 3:30 p.m. EDT, slip by Coney Island at 4:19 p.m. EDT and then pass under the Verrazano Bridge at 5:34 p.m. EDT before pulling into a temporary dock in New Jersey’s Port Elizabeth.

This is only the first leg of Enterprise’s sea trip to the Intrepid. On Tuesday (June 5), the shuttle will finish the journey by leaving Port Elizabeth at 9:15 a.m. EDT, passing the Statue of Liberty at 9:50 a.m. EDT, floating up the Hudson River by the World Trade Center’s Freedom Tower at 10:40 a.m. EDT and arriving at the Intrepid museum at about 11:30 a.m. EDT.

The Intrepid museum is built on the retired World War II aircraft carrier. Enterprise will be temporarily displayed on the Intrepid’s deck until its final display is complete. The shuttle prototype was previously displayed at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., but was replaced in April by NASA’s veteran orbiter Discovery.

space shuttles nyc houston
The space shuttle Enterprise, mounted on transport vehicle, is seen under a hanger at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York.

A Houston Shuttlebration

While Enterprise makes its way through New York Harbor Sunday, a different kind of shuttle will parade through part of Houston.

Houston’s space shuttle replica, formerly called “Explorer,” will take an early-morning trip from its dock at Clear Lake to the Space Center Houston by way of the area’s NASA Parkway and NASA 1 Bypass. The trip begins at 5 a.m. CDT and ends at the center 9 a.m. CDT.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT, Space Center Houston officials will host a free welcome celebration for the shuttle replica in the center’s parking lot. Viewing opportunities of the shuttle mockup, NASA space exploration exhibits and other activities are planned.

space shuttles nyc houston
A high-fidelity space shuttle mockup arrives at a Houston dock on June 1, 2012, via barge to be delivered to Space Center Houston and placed on public display.

The space shuttle replica was previously on display in Cape Canaveral, Fla., at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the welcome center for the nearby Kennedy Space Center spaceport that served as the homeport for NASA’s space shuttle fleet for 30 years.

With the retirement of NASA’s shuttle program in 2011, the space agency is sending its flown shuttles to museums for public display. The space shuttle Atlantis, NASA’s second-oldest orbiter, is replacing the Explorer replica at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex much like Discovery replaced Enterprise at the Smithsonian.

NASA’s youngest shuttle Endeavour, meanwhile, is being prepared for its cross-country trip to Los Angeles, where it will be delivered to the California Science Center for public display.

Editor’s note: Spot the Shuttle! If you snap a great photo of space shuttle Enterprise in New York City or Explorer in Houston and want to share it with SPACE.com for a possible story or gallery, send pictures and comments to managing editor Tariq Malik at: tmalik@space.com.

You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalikFollow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/02/space-shuttles-enterprise_n_1564804.html

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Space shuttle hardware is on the move in Houston and NYC

A NASA space shuttle prototype and high-fidelity shuttle replica will make some big moves in New York and Houston on Sunday, and residents in both cities have a chance to spot the winged spacecraft — one by sea and the other by land.

In New York City, NASA’s space shuttle Enterprise will be visible from some of the city’s beaches and coast when it takes a barge from Jamaica Bay to the New York Harbor. The prototype shuttle, which never flew in space but was used in pivotal aerodynamic tests, is destined to go on public display at Manhattan’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. On Saturday, a crane hoisted the shuttle onto its barge for the upcoming sea ride.



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While New Yorkers will get to see Enterprise sailing on a barge, the sight of a space shuttle on the water is one some Houston residents have already seen. The space shuttle replica Explorer arrived at a dock in Houston’s Clear Lake on Friday, and on Sunday the shuttle will parade its way from the lake to Space Center Houston, a visitor’s center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA’s Texas facility serves as the home of the agency’s astronaut corps and its mission control center for the International Space Station.

Here’s how to see the shuttles in New York City and Houston (Note: All times are dependent on weather and can change with local conditions):

Space shuttle in NYC

For New Yorkers, Enterprise will begin its barge trip at 7:45 a.m. ET, when the tugboat pulling the ship leaves John F. Kennedy International Airport for the New York Harbor. Enterprise arrived at JFK on April 27 atop a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet — NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft —and has been awaiting delivery to the Intrepid museum ever since. [Shuttle Enterprise's Voyage to NYC (Photos)]

After shipping out from JFK, Enterprise will make its way toward New York Harbor by traveling along the shore of Queens and Brooklyn. The planned route will bring Enterprise by the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge at 3:30 p.m. ET, slip by Coney Island at 4:19 p.m. and then pass under the Verrazano Bridge at 5:34 p.m. before pulling into a temporary dock in New Jersey’s Port Elizabeth.

This is only the first leg of Enterprise’s sea trip to the Intrepid. On Tuesday, the shuttle will finish the journey by leaving Port Elizabeth at 9:15 a.m. ET, passing the Statue of Liberty at 9:50 a.m., floating up the Hudson River by the World Trade Center’s Freedom Tower at 10:40 a.m. and arriving at the Intrepid museum at about 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Intrepid museum is built on the retired World War II aircraft carrier. Enterprise will be temporarily displayed on the Intrepid’s deck until its final display is complete. The shuttle prototype was previously displayed at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., but was replaced in April by NASA’s veteran orbiter Discovery.

A Houston Shuttlebration

While Enterprise makes its way through New York Harbor Sunday, a different kind of shuttle will parade through part of Houston.

Houston’s space shuttle replica, formerly called “Explorer,” will take an early-morning trip from its dock at Clear Lake to the Space Center Houston by way of the area’s NASA Parkway and NASA 1 Bypass. The trip begins at 5 a.m. CT and ends at the center 9 a.m. CT.

Image: The Space Shuttle replica Explorer

Richard Carson
 / 
Reuters

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT, Space Center Houston officials will host a free welcome celebration for the shuttle replica in the center’s parking lot. Viewing opportunities of the shuttle mockup, NASA space exploration exhibits and other activities are planned.

The space shuttle replica was previously on display in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the welcome center for the nearby Kennedy Space Center spaceport that served as the homeport for NASA’s space shuttle fleet for 30 years.

With the retirement of NASA’s shuttle program in 2011, the space agency is sending its flown shuttles to museums for public display. The space shuttle Atlantis, NASA’s second-oldest orbiter, is replacing the Explorer replica at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, much as Discovery replaced Enterprise at the Smithsonian.

Meanwhile, NASA’s youngest shuttle, Endeavour, is being prepared for its cross-country trip to Los Angeles, where it will be delivered to the California Science Center for public display.

© 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47660950/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Space Shuttle Lifted From 747 In New York | Video

The Enterprise was “demated” from atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 14, 2012 to prep it for travel aboard a barge. It’s new permanent home will be Intrepid Air and Space Museum in Manhattan.

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Another perfect space shuttle landing in NYC

Space shuttle Enterprise has landed in New York, again.

Two weeks after flying into John F. Kennedy International Airport mounted atop a modified Boeing 747, Enterprise — NASA’s original prototype space shuttle — was off-loaded by crane from the back of the jumbo jet to the ground overnight on Saturday.

Workers finished hoisting Enterprise off the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) at about 6:30 a.m. EDT on Sunday. The orbiter, which did not fly in space but was used for a series of approach and landing tests in the late 1970s, was lowered onto a wheeled transporter and then moved to a hangar to wait being barged to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum for public display.

Enterprise’s three-day journey on the Hudson River to the Intrepid, a converted World War II aircraft carrier in Manhattan, is set to begin on June 4.

Enterprise touched down in New York from Virginia, where it has been on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum since 2003, on April 27. Still attached to the 747, Enterprise was parked at JFK under an open-ended hangar. NASA then moved and set-up at the New York airport the same two large cranes used to mount the orbiter atop the jetliner for its ferry flight to the Big Apple.

All of NASA’s space-flown space shuttles and Enterprise are getting new museum homes after the space agency retired the orbiter fleet in 2011. The shuttle Discovery replaced Enterprise at the Smithsonian on April 19.

United Space Alliance (USA) workers will begin dismantling the cranes at JFK on Monday. The 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is expected to depart for NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California by the end of the week. In September, it will fly to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its final space shuttle ferry flight, carrying the shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles for the California Science Center.

The only space shuttle not to ride a carrier aircraft to its final museum home is Atlantis, which will be moved by land from the Kennedy Space Center to the nearby its nearby visitor complex in Florida.

Enterprise’s river journey to the Intrepid will include a stopover in Bayonne, N.J., to be moved onto a crane-equipped barge. Once alongside the ship-based museum, the shuttle be hoisted onto the flight deck. A climate-controlled temporary steel and fabric structure will then be erected over the shuttle.



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The Intrepid’s “Space Pavilion” is set to open to the public on July 19. The first tickets to view Enterprise went on sale earlier this month.

Visit shuttles.collectspace.com for continuing coverage of the delivery and display of NASA’s retired space shuttles.

Follow collectSpace on Facebook and Twitter @ collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman @ robertpearlman. Copyright 2012 collectSpace.com. All rights reserved.

© 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47414846/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Space Shuttle Enterprise Separated From 747 At New York’s JFK Airport (VIDEO …

Space Shuttle Enterprise

— The space shuttle Enterprise has been separated from the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier at John F. Kennedy International Airport, just weeks after flying over New York City.

The shuttle is now resting under a de-icing shed at the airport. Next month it will be taken by barge to the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the floating air-and-space museum that will be the shuttle’s permanent home. The shuttle is scheduled to open to the public in mid-July.

Enterprise never went on an actual space mission; it was a full-scale test vehicle used for flights in the atmosphere and experiments on the ground.

Here are images of the shuttle’s final journey, flying over Washington and New York and ultimately being separated from its 747 carrier plane.

  • In this April 27, 2012, file photo, provided by the Smithsonian Institution, space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, takes off for New York from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Sterling, Va. (AP Photo/Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino, File)

  • In this April 27, 2012, file photo, the crew of the space shuttle Enterprise, from left, Ace Beall, Henry T. Taylor, Darrell Hood, Bill Rieke, Larry LaRose and Jeff Moultrie pose for a photo after their last flight with the shuttle at JFK International Airport in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

  • In this April 27, 2012, file photo, provided by NASA, space shuttle Enterprise, riding on the back of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies over New York near the Empire State Building, left. (AP Photo/NASA, Robert Markowitz, File)

  • In this April 27, 2012, file photo provided by NASA, space shuttle Enterprise, riding on the back of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies over New York. (AP Photo/NASA, Matt Hedges, File)

  • The space shuttle Enterprise hangs just a few feet above a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York Sunday, May 13, 2012 after it was lifted from the airplane in preparation for its upcoming journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • The space shuttle Enterprise hangs in the air at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Sunday, May 13, 2012, as a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft where it was perched is pulled away in preparation for its upcoming journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • The space shuttle Enterprise hangs in the air at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York Sunday, May 13, 2012 after it was lifted from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in preparation for its upcoming journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • Members of the news media watch as the space shuttle Enterprise hangs in the air at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Sunday, May 13, 2012, after it was lifted from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in preparation for its upcoming journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • The space shuttle Enterprise hangs in the air at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Sunday, May 13, 2012, after it was lifted from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in preparation for its upcoming journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • The space shuttle Enterprise rests on a specialized transporter before sunrise after it was lifted from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Sunday, May 13, 2012, in preparation for its upcoming journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • The sun rises as the space shuttle Enterprise rests on a specialized transporter after it was lifted from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Sunday, May 13, 2012, in preparation for its upcoming journey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • The space shuttle Enterprise rests under a de-icing shed Sunday, May 13, 2012 at John F. Kennedy International Airport after it was detached from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in the early morning hours. The shuttle is being readied to be on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum in New York City at a later date. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

  • The space shuttle Enterprise rests under a de-icing shed Sunday, May 13, 2012, at John F. Kennedy International Airport after it was detached from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in the early morning hours. The shuttle is being readied to be on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum in New York City at a later date. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

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NASA is to fly the space shuttle Enterprise from Washington to New York.


The space shuttle Enterprise flies over New York City on its trip from Washington.

New York (CNN) — The space shuttle Enterprise swooped across the New York City skyline on Friday, mounted atop a 747 jumbo jet as it headed for city’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as part of its final flight.

The shuttle took off from Virginia’s Dulles International Airport, with a flight plan that includes fly-bys of the Statue of Liberty and other Gotham landmarks. It is ultimately bound for it’s new home at the city’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

The space agency said it will put the shuttle on a barge in a few weeks and float it up the Hudson River to its final home.

Share your shuttle photos, videos with CNN iReport

The shuttle, which has been on display at a Smithsonian Institute museum near Washington, is the latest to shift locations as NASA sends its fleet into retirement.

Discovery — the most traveled of the shuttles — is replacing Enterprise in the Smithsonian facility.

Completed in 1976, Enterprise was designed as a prototype test vehicle. Test pilots demonstrated that it could fly and land in the atmosphere like airplanes, but the Enterprise never flew in space.

The shuttle was originally to be named the Constitution, but a write-in campaign by fans of the television series “Star Trek” persuaded officials to rename it in honor of the show’s main starship.

NASA sent the shuttle on a tour of Europe and Canada in 1983, and it also appeared in the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans. The craft made a brief return to service as a ground test vehicle in 1984 before retiring to the Smithsonian’s collection in 1985.

NASA is preparing to fly space shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles sometime in the second half of the year. Atlantis is being readied for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

The other two shuttles in the NASA program, Challenger and Columbia, were destroyed in flight.






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Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/27/us/new-york-space-shuttle/?hpt=hp_bn1

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NASA’s Prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise Heads to NYC This Week




The prototype space shuttle Enterprise is seen in silhouette after it was mated on top of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) at Washington Dulles International Airport, Friday, April 20, 2012, in Sterling, Va.

The prototype space shuttle Enterprise is seen in silhouette after it was mated on top of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) at Washington Dulles International Airport, Friday, April 20, 2012, in Sterling, Va. Enterprise will go on permanent display at the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum in New York in June.
CREDIT: NASA/Bill Ingalls


NEW YORK — Residents of the Big Apple may catch sight of an unusual sight over their famous skyline this week: a NASA space shuttle riding atop a jumbo jet.

NASA’s prototype shuttle Enterprise is due to fly from the Dulles International Airport in Virginia to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to be prepared for eventual public display in Manhattan. The move, which was originally scheduled for today (April 23), has been delayed due to weather. The flight is now expected to take place this week, though NASA officials it won’t occur before Wednesday (April 25).

Enterprise is being transferred from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., where it had been on display since 2003, to Manhattan’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, which is housed in a retired World War II Navy aircraft carrier. Last week, NASA delivered the shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian annex, which replaced Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

While Enterprise never flew to space, it was NASA’s first space shuttle. The vehicle was built to perform glide tests that paved the way for the rest of the shuttle fleet. It was named after the fictional starship U.S.S. Enterprise from TV’s “Star Trek” after a massive public write-in campaign by the show’s fans to then President Gerald Ford in the 1970s. [Photos: A Space Shuttle Called 'Enterprise']



A nighttime view of the space shuttle Enterprise, mated to an external tank and solid rocket boosters, resting on the launch mount next to the access tower at Space Launch Complex Six.

To transport its space shuttles across the country, NASA uses a modified Boeing 747 jet called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Enterprise has been lifted by cranes and placed atop the jet, attached via three struts on the Boeing’s fuselage.

On its way to JFK, Enterprise and its ride are due to fly over parts of New York City, including the Intrepid and the Statue of Liberty, at a relatively low altitude. Photographers should get their cameras ready for what will be a once-in-a-lifetime sight.

Roughly 1,500 invited guests, including politicians and students, will be on hand to Welcome Enterprise to New York. Among those in attendance will be Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Dean Skelos, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, and Congressman Joe Crowley. A welcome ceremony will feature remarks from museum and Port Authority officials, as well as NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver.

The flight, which is highly weather dependent, is being coordinated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

After it lands, Enterprise will be detached from its carrier plane and stored in a hangar at the airport until June, giving the Intrepid some extra time to ready its display area. When it’s time for Enterprise to arrive at the museum, the shuttle orbiter will be towed by barge up the Hudson river, pulled by a tugboat.

Enterprise isn’t the only shuttle to be installed in a museum this year. The shuttle Discovery, which flew 39 missions before being retired in 2011 (along with its sister ships Endeavour and Atlantis), was delivered to the Udvar-Hazy Center on April 19. Endeavour will be sent to the California Science Center in Los Angeles later this year, while Atlantis will be transferred to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.At first, Enterprise will be temporarily displayed in a climate-controlled pavilion on the flight deck of the Intrepid. Ultimately, Intrepid museum officials plan to build Enterprise a permanent showcase facility.

You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Article source: http://www.space.com/15379-space-shuttle-enterprise-nyc-piggyback-flight.html

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Weather forecast delays shuttle’s arrival to NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — The space shuttle Enterprise’s scheduled arrival in New York City has been pushed back because of possible bad weather.

NASA says Monday’s planned arrival of the shuttle has been postponed “until further notice.”

The Enterprise is being brought to the city where it has a new permanent home waiting at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

NASA managers are monitoring weather forecasts and will reschedule the shuttle’s flight as soon as possible.

The plan is to fly the shuttle atop a carrier aircraft to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. It will be moved by barge to the Intrepid museum for public display.

The museum is at a decommissioned aircraft carrier moored off Manhattan. It’s been making room for the shuttle on its flight deck.

Article source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Weather-forecast-delays-shuttle-s-arrival-to-NYC-3499120.php

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Shuttle Discovery goes from runway to museum

The space shuttle Discovery is moving into its new home in the Smithsonian, and the prototype shuttle Enterprise is moving out, New York City-bound.

To mark the switch, NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum are kicking off a four-day celebration at the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center here on Thursday, with Discovery and Enterprise sitting nose-to-nose as the guests of honor. The ceremony, to be aired live on NASA TV at 11 a.m. ET, features such luminaries as former senator/astronaut John Glenn and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who have both flown on Discovery in space.

The stage was set for the ceremony early Thursday, when Enterprise was rolled outside from the place it’s held in the Udvar-Hazy Center since 1985. Meanwhile, Discovery was hoisted off the modified NASA 747 jet, which it rode piggyback on Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Dulles International Airport.

It was just a short three-mile tow from the Dulles runway to the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Thursday’s ceremony is the opening splash for a “Welcome Discovery” festival at the center, featuring space-related activities, performances, appearances by astronauts, films and displays. Friday will be “Student Discovery Day” — and on Saturday and Sunday, the museum will be serving up a full schedule of activities for families.

When NASA announced the shuttle fleet’s retirement, the Smithsonian got first pick of the orbiters, and decided to go with Discovery.

“NASA and the Smithsonian signed an agreement in 1967 that has enabled the National Air and Space Museum to preserve and display the greatest icons of our nation’s space history,” Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey, the museum’s director, explained in a statement. “At the Udvar-Hazy Center, Discovery will be seen by millions of people in the coming years, especially children, who will become the next generation of scientists, engineers, researchers and explorers.”

Discovery was the first shuttle to be decommissioned, back in March 2011. The orbiter flew 39 missions, more than any other shuttle in history, logging 148,221,675 miles on its odometer during 365 days in outer space. Its achievements include deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, John Glenn’s flight in 1998 at the age of 77 (which made him the oldest person to fly in space), and the “return to flight” missions after the Challenger explosion and the Columbia disaster.


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Discovery’s sister orbiters, Atlantis and Endeavour, will be headed to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center and the California Science Center in Los Angeles, respectively.

The Enterprise is a special case: It was used as an aerodynamic test vehicle during the shuttle’s development but never flew in space. Weather permitting, it will be loaded up on the modified 747 at Dulles, just as Discovery was in Florida, and flown to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as early as next week.

From there, the Enterprise will ride a barge to its new home on the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, docked at Pier 86 on Manhattan’s West Side.

Follow msnbc.com’s science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle) for updates on Discovery’s transfer.

© 2012 msnbc.com



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Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47098570/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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