E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Robert Markowitz / Getty Images via NASA
The space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies near the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline, April 27, in New York City. Enterprise was the first shuttle orbiter built for NASA performing test flights in the atmosphere and was incapable of spaceflight. Originally housed at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Enterprise will be demated from the SCA and placed on a barge that will eventually be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
The Space Shuttle Enterprise rides atop a NASA modified 747 plane over New York on April 27. The Space Shuttle Enterprise officially arrived in New York to be placed at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
Andrew Gombert / EPA
Visitors a the top of Rockefeller Center watch the Space Shuttle Enterprise, attached to a modified 747, as it flies over New York City before landing at John F Kennedy airport and eventually its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, New York, New York , USA, on April 27.
Reuters reports -- The space shuttle Enterprise took off on Friday from Washington piggybacked atop a Boeing 747 bound for New York, where it was set to make a dramatic flight along the Hudson River past the Statue of Liberty.
The United States retired its space shuttles last year after finishing construction of the $100 billion International Space Station, a 15-nation project, to begin work on a new generation of spaceships that can carry astronauts to destinations beyond the station's 240-mile-high orbit.
NASA has been flying the shuttles to cities around the nation for display.
Related story: Space shuttle Enterprise takes off atop New York-bound jet
Julio Cortez / AP
Space shuttle Enterprise, riding on the back of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, cruises over the New York City skyline as it makes its way to John F. Kennedy International Airport, seen from Union City, N.J., Friday, April 27, 2012. Enterprise is expected to go on display at the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum in New York.
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
The Space Shuttle Enterprise rides atop a NASA modified 747 plane over New York on April 27. The Space Shuttle Enterprise officially arrived in New York to be placed at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
Mary Altaffer / AP
People watch from the balcony of a building as the space shuttle Enterprise, riding on the back of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, cruises over the Hudson river, Friday, April 27, 2012 in New York. Enterprise is eventually going to make its new home in New York City at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
Riding atop a 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, the space shuttle Enterprise flies past the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor on April 27, in New York City. Enterprise, which was flown from Washington, DC, will eventually be put on permanent display at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
The space shuttle Enterprise left Dulles International Airport and arrived in New York this morning. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
Leave a Comment:
It is too bad that our Government and its leaders have chosen to stop flying the Greatest machine of the 20th and 21st century. I guess sharing the wealth with do-nothings is more important!
Exactly right Stan. Greed before progress. What I don't understand are the average folks that fight for the right wing greed...which is against them too. Brainwashed.
This is probably one of the dumbest things that this government has done. Canceling the space shuttle program is one thing, but to eliminate ALL shuttles, and not keeping one for any sort of emergency on the space station, or the Hubble Telescope, or needing to retrieve a satellite, is a waste of taxpayers dollars in the long run. If something were to happen, God forbid, to the orbit of the space station, NASA could have used the shuttle to get it back into its orbit and/or rescue ALL of the astronauts at once and land safely back in Florida or California, not splash down in Siberia or wherever. Thank you President Obama and President George Bush for eliminating, instead of growing, one of America's GREATEST achievements. Once again America is back down at the bottom of the chain worldwide.
I agree with everything you said, and the point in particular about if something happened to the space station. That was the very point I made when they first announced the end of the Shuttle program. Personally, I was on the space station and something happened, I wouldn't want to have to draw straws to decide which people would have to stay and wait for the next rocket to come and pick me up. Hey, the shuttle program had it's problems, but it was running like a well-oiled machine long before the end. They could have built a newer shuttle, because the thing is you just don't leave yourself with nothing. It make NO sense. I always felt a sense of national pride when the shuttle went up with things built by other countries and scientists from different parts of the world. It felt like a vessel bringing solidarity between us and other countries. I could go on...but it's too sad for me.
And wind up in New York of all places
I agree with everything you said, and the point in particular about if something happened to the space station. That was the very point I made when they first announced the end of the Shuttle program. Personally, I was on the space station and something happened, I wouldn't want to have to draw straws to decide which people would have to stay and wait for the next rocket to come and pick me up. Hey, the shuttle program had it's problems, but it was running like a well-oiled machine long before the end. They could have built a newer shuttle, because the thing is you just don't leave yourself with nothing. It make NO sense. I always felt a sense of national pride when the shuttle went up with things built by other countries and scientists from different parts of the world. It felt like a vessel bringing solidarity between us and other countries. I could go on...but it's too sad for me.
Is that the Freedom Tower in the 5th picture?
Sometimes there are days in our past that we will hate to look back on. The retirement of the Space Shuttle Orbitor as well as the Enterprise are such days.
Another sad day for me was the retirement of the SR-71 Blackbird. Another one of Americas greatest achievements with no clear replacement.
Now, I just need to figure out how I can get to the USS Entripid to see them both :-(