Enterprise makes a voyage into history

Paul Marks, senior technology reporter

(Image: Michael Nagle/Getty Images)

IT WASN'T capable of reaching Earth orbit, but the NASA prototype shuttle Enterprise has a special place in the hearts of space fans. Pictured here on 6 June, wending its way up the Hudson River towards the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City, it was the atmospheric test vehicle for the shuttle programme.

Enterprise proved that the aerodynamics of the orbiter were sound enough to allow it to fly from the edge of space and still land like an aircraft. It paved the way for the 135 missions of sister orbiters Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. Unlike those craft, Enterprise had neither rocket engines nor a heat shield - and late design changes made converting it for spaceflight far too expensive. One thing that was converted, however, was its name. When Rockwell of Palmdale, California, began construction in 1974, the shuttle prototype was named Constitution, but its name was changed to that of a certain sci-fi starship after fans lobbied President Gerald Ford to press NASA for the change.

Another Enterprise fan was my late father, a former aircraft engineer who had worked on both the British Aircraft Corporation's Jet Provost and its Vickers VC10. In June 1983, he could barely contain his excitement when Enterprise, piggybacking on a Boeing 747, paid a visit to Stansted Airport in Essex, UK, on its way to a Paris air show. You can see one of dad's photos below. Live long and prosper, Enterprise.

(Image: Alf Marks)

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