Yesterday, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise arrived in New York atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, the specially Boeing 747 modified to transport the Space Shuttles. In a few weeks the Enterprise will be transported to the  Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum to be exhibited.

The Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise, named that way thanks to a campaign by fans of the television series “Star Trek”, was built between 1974 and 1976 as a prototype to be used for test flights in the atmosphere during the early days of the Space Shuttle program.

Initially, the project was to give the Enterprise engines and a heat shield at a later time to make it the second working Space Shuttle Orbiter after the Columbia. Later design changes made that idea too complex and expensive because it would’ve required a restructuring of the Enterprise. For the same reason, after the disaster of the Space Shuttle Challenger it was decided to build a new orbiter, the Endeavour.

The Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise was used for flight test and other ground tests for about a year. Later, various components were recovered to be used in other Space Shuttles and the Enterprise was transported even abroad for various exhibitions. In 1985 it was used to adapt to the Space Shuttles the launch complex of the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

On November 18, 1985, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise was brought to Washington, where it became property of the Smithsonian Institution, which made it a museum piece. Last week however the Enterprise was replaced by the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery and in early June it will be transported on a barge to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Yesterday, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flew the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise over New York to let people see it and, as it happened a week ago with the journey of the Discovery over Washington, on the Internet you can find many photos of this event.

Upon the arrival of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise at the John F. Kennedy airport in New York, there was a ceremony in which among the speakers there was also actor Leonard Nimoy, who how the Enterprise had its name and concluded his brief speech with his famous greeting: “Live long and prosper.”.