Geek Space: Shuttle Enterprise October 26, 1977

October 26, 2014

Jim Reeves geek, Pictures , , , , , Leave a comment

enterprise_102677

From Science is a verb‘s Facebook:

On October 26, 1977, NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise completed its fifth and final Approach and Landing Test free flight. Enterprise was released from the back of a modified NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and had a two-minute glide back to the runway at Edwards Air Force Base.

The Approach and Landing Test program demonstrated the orbiter’s capability for safe approach and landing after an orbital flight from space. It also validated crucial onboard control systems necessary for the Shuttle Program’s next step: the launch of Shuttle Columbia into orbit on April 12, 1981.

To learn more about Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests , visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/approach_landing.html

The Lady and the Enterprise

June 6, 2012

Jim Reeves geek, News , , , , Leave a comment

The Space Shuttle Enterprise is on it’s way to New York’s Intrepid museum by barge.  It has been lifted onto the flight deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid, the retired aircraft carrier now permanently on display in New York Harbor.  The Enterprise was the first Shuttle built, and used for flight and landing tests in the late 1970’s.  It was originally planned to be retro-fitted for spaceflight, and be the second orbiter, but structural refitting to bring the Enterprise to acceptable specifications became to expensive.  The decision was made that it would be cheaper to build a new orbiter (Challenger) than to disassemble and rebuild Enterprise.  Enterprise has been on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport since 2003.

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Shuttle Retires At 30

April 5, 2011

Jim Reeves commentary, geek, Personal , , , , , Leave a comment

From the first flights of the Enterprise, to the final voyage of Endeavour,  it’s been a grand 30 years.  Over a hundred missions, the construction of the International Space Station, the launching and servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the tragic loss of two Orbiters and 14 astronauts,  the Space Shuttle Program has always been a part of my adult life.  It’s difficult to imagine it not being there any longer.

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