June 5, 2012 — Space shuttle Enterprise will arrive at New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on Wednesday (June 6), after a 3-day sea trek that included a layover in New Jersey.
The prototype shuttle, which did not fly in space but was used for atmospheric test flights, is scheduled to arrive at the Intrepid at approximately 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT). The orbiter will then be craned onto the museum's flight deck by 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT). The Intrepid, which is docked on Manhattan's west side, is a retired World War II aircraft carrier that is now used to house aerospace and maritime exhibits.
Earlier this week,
the Enterprise was moved over water to a port in Jersey City, where it was transferred onto a barge equipped with a crane to prepare it to be hoisted onto the Intrepid. Enterprise touched down in New York at John F. Kennedy International Airport in late April atop of a NASA jumbo jet,
The first half of the shuttle's river ride, which took it past Coney Island in Brooklyn and Staten Island on Sunday, proceeded smoothly until a gust of wind pushed the orbiter into a railroad bridge abutment, leaving
Enterprise's right wing damaged. Intrepid officials said via Twitter that as of Tuesday, the shuttle had been repaired.
Space shuttle Enterprise is scheduled to set sail for the Intrepid at 10:15 a.m. EDT (1415 GMT) Wednesday, June 6. (Intrepid) |
Following a one-day delay due to poor weather conditions, Enterprise will depart the Jersey shore at 10:15 a.m. EDT (1415 GMT) on Wednesday. The shuttle will pass by the Statue of Liberty about 35 minutes later.
At about 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT), Enterprise will float by the World Trade Center and then travel up the Hudson River to the Intrepid, which is located at Pier 86 at W. 46th Street and 12th Avenue in New York City.
"We expect good viewing locations to include the west side of Manhattan from Battery Park through the mid 40’s and on the Hudson [River] waterfront of NJ in Jersey City, Hoboken, and Weehawken," the Intrepid museum advised on its website.
Once alongside the converted aircraft carrier, a crane will hoist Enterprise onto the flight deck for its public display. The craning operation is estimated to take approximately three hours to complete.
Work will then begin later this week to raise a steel and fabric shelter over the space shuttle to protect it while on exhibit. The Intrepid's "Space Shuttle Pavilion" will open to visitors on July 19.
NASA
awarded Enterprise to the Intrepid in April 2011. At the same time the space agency assigned the museum homes for its space-flown orbiters. Enterprise was moved to New York after it was displaced by shuttle Discovery at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia.
Visit shuttles.collectspace.com for continuing coverage of the delivery and display of NASA's retired space shuttles. 
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