Space Shuttle Pavillion

You are walking toward the Space Shuttle Pavilion, which serves as the final, high-profile resting place for the Space Shuttle Enterprise. This craft never ventured into the vacuum of space, but it was the very vehicle that proved the shuttle program could work. In 1977, NASA used the Enterprise for a series of critical approach and landing tests, dropping it from a modified Boeing 747 to refine the shuttle’s ability to glide and touch down on a runway. Its success during these atmospheric flights cleared the way for the orbital missions of the later, space-flown shuttles.