Editing Space Shuttle Enterprise (section)

{{short description|Space Shuttle test vehicle, used for glide tests}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Space Shuttle ''Enterprise''}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox individual space vehicle
| name              = ''Enterprise''
| image             = Enterprise free flight.jpg
| image_alt         = Enterprise glides to the left in this view, banked slightly towards the camera, showing "United States" on the port side and American flags on the port side and the port wing. Enterprise has a long probe sticking forward of the nose cone for calibration of instruments, and an aeroshell covering the engine area. Most of the backdrop is sky, but at the bottom, the mountainous horizon of California can be seen through haze.
| caption           = ''Enterprise'' in flight in 1977, during ALT-13
| type              = [[Spaceplane]]
| class             = [[Space Shuttle orbiter]]
| serial            = OV-101
| eponym            = {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}}
| other_names       = ''Constitution'' (1975–1977)
| owner             = [[NASA]]
| manufacturer      = [[Rockwell International]]
| dimensions        = 
| dry_mass          = 
| communication     = 
| power             = 
| first_flight_date = {{Start-date|August 12, 1977}}
| first_flight      = [[Approach and Landing Tests|ALT-12]]
| last_flight_date  = {{Start-date|October 26, 1977}}
| last_flight       = ALT-16
| flights           = 5
| time              = 20 m, 58 s above Earth
| travelled         = 
| fate              = Prototype
| location          = {{Unbulleted list|[[Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum|''Intrepid'' Museum]]|[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]}}
| previous          = ''[[Space Shuttle Pathfinder|Pathfinder]]''
| next              = ''[[Space Shuttle Columbia|Columbia]]''
}}

'''Space Shuttle ''Enterprise''''' ([[Orbiter Vehicle Designation]]: '''OV-101''') was the first [[Space Shuttle orbiter|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 [[Shuttle Carrier Aircraft|modified Boeing 747]].<ref name="tech">{{Cite book |title=Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System |publisher=Voyageur Press |first=Dennis R |last=Jenkins |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-9633974-5-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/spaceshuttlehist0000jenk}}</ref> It was constructed without [[Space Shuttle main engine|engines]] or a functional [[heat shield]]. As a result, it was not capable of [[spaceflight]].<ref name="Slovinac2010">{{cite book |url=http://ntrs.larc.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110002109 |title=Avionics Systems Laboratory/Building 16: Historical Documentation |publisher=NASA |first1=Patricia |last1=Slovinac |first2=Joan |last2=Deming |date=June 2010 |id=JSC-CN-22284 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212131023/http://ntrs.larc.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110002109 |archive-date=December 12, 2013}}</ref>

Originally, ''Enterprise'' had been intended to be refitted for [[orbital flight]] to become the second space-rated orbiter in service.<ref name="tech"/> However, during the construction of {{OV|Columbia}}, details of the final design changed, making it simpler and less costly to build {{OV|Challenger|full=no}} around a body frame that had been built as a [[test article (aerospace)|test article]].<ref name="tech"/> Similarly, ''Enterprise'' was considered for refit to replace ''Challenger'' after the latter [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|was destroyed]], but {{OV|Endeavour|full=no}} was built from structural spares instead.<ref name="tech"/><ref name="name"/>

''Enterprise'' was restored and placed on display in 2003 at the [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian]]'s new [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]] in Virginia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/informal/features/F_Udvar_Hazy_Center.html |title=National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center |publisher=NASA |date=October 23, 2003 |access-date=September 30, 2015 |archive-date=January 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150125165545/http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/informal/features/F_Udvar_Hazy_Center.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the [[Space Shuttle retirement|retirement]] of the Space Shuttle fleet, {{OV|Discovery|full=no}} replaced ''Enterprise'' at the Udvar-Hazy Center, and ''Enterprise'' was transferred to the [[Intrepid Museum|''Intrepid'' Museum]] in New York City, where it has been on display since July 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/7/18/3168405/nasa-space-shuttle-enterprise-pictures-uss-intrepid-nyc |title=NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise aboard the USS Intrepid in pictures |work=[[The Verge]] |first=Dante |last=D'Orazio |date=July 18, 2012 |access-date=September 30, 2015 |archive-date=July 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709154804/https://www.theverge.com/2012/7/18/3168405/nasa-space-shuttle-enterprise-pictures-uss-intrepid-nyc |url-status=live }}</ref>