14 DAY TRIAL // Representatives from the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, in New York City, and the American space agency say that they've signed a contract handing over the shuttle Enterprise from NASA to the museum. Visitors will be able to see Enterprise in the new setting starting in the summer of 2012.
The Intrepid is one of the four winners of space shuttle. Before NASA retired the spacecraft and closed down the Space Shuttle Program (SSP), it called for museums across the United States to express their intention in acquiring one of the spacecraft for permanent public display.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Endeavour will go to the California Science Center, in Los Angeles; Atlantis to the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Visitors' Complex; and Discovery to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington, DC.
But Enterprise was already located at the Smithsonian. The aircraft was the first shuttle ever built, but it never flew to space. Rather, it was used to conduct flight and gliding tests in Earth's atmosphere. NASA decided to let the shuttle go to New York City.
The Intrepid museum is an unusual one, in the sense that it is built on and inside a decommissioned, World War II-era aircraft carrier. Exhibits are installed both on the upper and lower decks, and the carrier is docked at a peer in Manhattan.
Museum officials say that the new ownership contract they signed with NASA on November 22 states that Enterprise needs to be delivered to NYC in 2012. They add that it's a great honor for the institution to receive one of just four space shuttles in existence today.
“NASA is proud to transfer the title of space shuttle Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City,” a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
“The USS Intrepid had a rich history with NASA's mission, and Enterprise – the pathfinder for the space shuttle program – belongs in this historic setting,” the top NASA official explained further.
“Enterprise, along with the rest of our shuttle fleet, is a national treasure, and it will help inspire the next generation of explorers as we begin our next chapter of space exploration,” he added.
Since the Intrepid does not yet have an exhibition center worthy of housing Enterprise just yet, it will first be exposed under a protective covering on the deck of the aircraft carrier. Once suitable “accommodations” are built, the aircraft will be transferred, Space reports.