Enterprise (OV-101)

Space Shuttle Enterprise, OV-101, was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield.

Between August and October 1977, Enterprise was carried aloft and released by the 747 Suttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) for 5 flights, proving that the orbiters could land on a runway after returning from space.

Enterprise was well traveled. It was first used for launch pad fit checks at both the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the USAF launch facility at Vandenberg AFB, California. The vehicle was also subjected to vibration testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

Enterprise was intended to be refitted for orbital flight but final design changes made it simpler and less costly to build the Challenger orbiter from componentse that had been built as a test article.

Enterprise was used for public relations purposes and was flown atop the SCA for a tour of Europe in 1983 and was then displayed at the Louisiana World Exposition in 1984.

From 1985 to 2003,Enterprise was stored at the Smithsonian's hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport before it was restored and moved to the Smithsonian's newly built National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles.

In 2012 Enterprise was transferred to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, making it's final flight atop the SCA for the trip to JFK Airport.