Friday, April 27, 2012

Final Flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Space Shuttle Enterprise took one last flight today. The shuttle was named after a Star Trek fan campaign back in the 70s resulting in President Gerald Ford officially changing the name on September 17th, 1976 with The Original Series crew and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry on hand for the dedication ceremony. The fly over was NASA's farewell wave as the shuttle will be on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum starting this summer.

The craft landed at JFK International Airport and met by Leonard Nimoy. This is a reunion for me," Nimoy said during a ceremony after Enterprise's touchdown. "Thirty-five years ago, I met the Enterprise for the first time." Five shuttles were built. The Enterprise, Challenger (exploded in 1986), Columbia (destroyed in reentry in 2003), Discovery (retired to Smithsonian), and Atlantis (retired to Kennedy Space Center). A video of its final flight can be found here. A gallery of great photos of the flight is here.

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