Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Space Shuttle Enterprise sitting before you on the deck of the aircraft carrier Intrepid is a prototype that never actually reached space. Built in the mid-nineteen seventies, the orbiter lacked the heavy-duty engines and heat shields required to survive the searing heat of reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Instead, its critical mission happened entirely within the sky above the Mojave Desert. NASA used this craft to perform a series of approach and landing tests, where it was hoisted high into the air by a modified Boeing seven-forty-seven and then released to glide back to earth. These successful flights provided the essential data needed to prove that a massive, reusable winged spacecraft could safely land on a runway like a traditional airplane.