NEW YORK – New York City was abuzz as the space shuttle Enterprise arrived Friday, flying low over high-profile locations, including the Statue of Liberty, while perched on the back of a 747 jet.
New Yorkers watched from rooftops and sirens wailed as the shuttle glided up the Hudson River and back down minutes later on its way to its temporary home at Kennedy Airport.
NASA is wrapping up the shuttle program, and the Enterprise will become part of New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. The Enterprise was never used in an actual space mission but was a full-scale test vehicle in the air and on the ground.
Get daily National news
The shuttle flew from Washington on Friday morning.
The Enterprise will stay at Kennedy Airport for a few weeks until it’s taken off the 747 jet it rode to New York.
After that it will be put on a barge in early June and brought up the Hudson River to the Intrepid, where it will be put on the flight deck. The museum anticipates opening the shuttle exhibit to the public in mid-July.
The shuttle will be “the largest and most significant space artifact in the entire Northeast,” said Susan Marenoff-Zausner, Intrepid’s president.
NASA’s shuttle program ended last year. The Enterprise’s place at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington has been taken by the shuttle Discovery. Shuttle Endeavor is going to Los Angeles, and shuttle Atlantis is staying at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.