The space shuttle Enterprise took a journey more akin to those of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise than its orbital sister ships on Sunday.
The prototype shuttle floated on a barge through New York Harbor, from John F. Kennedy Airport en route to Bayonne, New Jersey.
There, it will be transferred to another barge, this one with a crane. On Tuesday, the second barge will carry it back up the Hudson and lift the shuttle onto the deck of the USS Intrepid Museum, a former aircraft carrier and Enterprise's final destination.
The Enterprise was flown into JFK on the back of a 747 on April 27.
I guess thats a little different than being exo-atmospheric............ LOL 🙂
"To boldly go where few have gone before." Enterprise joins the other space vehicles that have served mankind well in our quest to leave the Earths grip. A new era in space travel awaits and will be accomplished through the efforts of private businesses as well as cooperation between governments. I may not be here to see it happen, but someday people will be able to honeymoon on the moon and gaze at a beautiful Earth rise.
no they won't .. u just don't understand the energetic meaning of what you just said, not to mention the risks.
Yes, there will be a day when mankind will join the community of space travelers (yes there is one), but there must be a leap of technological understanding for that to happen. Not there yet .. the good news is, once the understanding i achieved, it will take little time to get there, so yo might still see it, if a new theory of space and time is created within the next 10 years, ... guess what now?
How about "Enough Already"? How much more money do we need to spend to parade a pile of metal around the country? We all get it. We know what it did for us. Move forward people.
We can't move forward. There is no future.
The best we can do, is rewind back to the technology of the 1950's and 1960's, and return to the quaint old practice of splashing down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Maybe we know what it did, but future generations do not. That's why you put artifacts into a museum, to inform and inspire people in the future by showing them what was done in the past.
Thank you Mr. Obama. Another part of the American dream destroyed by your "vision" In with Mitt, out with Mutt.
Actually it was your buddy Bush who put the ax in the space shuttle program, well before Obama became president and inherited that, and a number of other problems that Bushy created.
Bob: The Shuttle program was terminated in 2004, by President Bush. We simply flew a few more missions, and Obama added another, before we ended the operation of the shuttle.
another intellignet right wing rasist remark
Obama has only been in office for 4 years, but as far as manned flights, we have had nothing but Low Earth Orbit missions for the last 40 years. The shuttles were past their prime, and two were lost in flight. It was right for Bush to schedule the retirement of the aging hardware. Meanwhile, NASA continues to use robotic planetary missions while private enterprise is developing U.S. capabilities for LEO missions. With Obama funding, they are also back to working on manned missions beyond LEO. We are not fast-tracking in space like we did when we were racing to the moon, but we are moving forward.
Was the driver of the tugboat Russian?
Space flight. Ur doin' it wrong.
I think that is the Verrazano Bridge in Newport RI
Huh?
So long military, space truck. Hello again deep space exploration.... This time with private involvement.
This could be the most exciting period for space travel since Apollo.
It would have been pretty cool to see the Space Shuttle floating through New Your Harbor. I must strongly disagree with Dave. If I lived in New York and I was thinking "what should I do today?" Going to see a Space Shuttle on top of an Aircraft Carrier would be one Hell of an option. Sometimes the value of things cannot be measured in dollars.
The shuttle does not belong in New York City, as they never contributed anything more than tax dollars, which all cities contribute, to space flight. It should have gone to Florida, Houston, or Dayton, the practical birthplace of flight.
Kind of disagree with you to James. There are 3 Shuttles left. I think 1 should be placed on each coast and 1 somewhere in the middle of the country so all Americans can be somewhat close to one of these incredible pieces of history. Seeing how all Americans pay taxes all Americans should have access to them.
Texas already has, and is keeping, OV-095.
Alabama already has, and is keeping, OV-097.
OV-101, OV-103, OV-104, and OV-105 are going to the places where the most people will be able to see them; NY, LA, DC and home at Florida.
They sent it to New York because the IQ is so low down south...they didn't think anyone would know what it was
Excellent point James! Does anybody really think that all those NYY fans are deserving of the shuttle? Bloomberg will have it on a diet because it weighs too much!!!!
You know he is not going to allow any vending machines on or near the Intrepid Museum.
What's the big deal about displaying the Space Shuttle any way ... they should dismantle it just as they do the majority of all Naval Ships after they have been decommssioned. Hey, but what do I know!!??!!
Yes, indeed. What do you know?
There are over 100 floating U.S. Navy museum vessels. They include aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and submarines. You can visit former planes used as Air Force One. Why not a few shuttles?
Vad – Agree with you. This whole country needs to be inspired again.
Even though the SpaceX capsule looks like Apollo, I have to admit that having a private company capable of making that is a pretty significant step. Instead having one agency employing everyone, we have even more workers being hired by several different competing companies.
Strange thought though I suppose. I am inspired that we have something that we can put on the water that actually can actually lift that big shuttle on to the aircraft carrier. I mean how cool is that?
It is NOT Bush's fault: it WAS the right decision. As was phasing down the Constellation program. That "replacement" for the shuttle was well over budget, and never really had a mission that was supported by the White House or the Congress.
Bobsknob "Actually it was your buddy Bush who put the ax in the space shuttle program, well before Obama became president and inherited that, and a number of other problems that Bushy created."
The Shuttle was to be replaced with Orion (the Constellation program) which Obama cancelled in 2010.