New York City was abuzz as the space shuttle Enterprise arrived on Friday, flying low over high-profile locations, including the Statue of Liberty, while perched on the back of a 747 jet.
New Yorkers watched from rooftops and sirens wailed as the shuttle glided up the Hudson River and back down minutes later on its way to its temporary home at the Kennedy Airport.
NASA is wrapping up the shuttle programme, and Enterprise will become part of New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Enterprise was never used in an actual space mission but was a full-scale test vehicle in the air and on the ground. The shuttle flew from Washington on Friday morning.
Enterprise will stay at the Kennedy Airport for a few weeks until it's taken off the 747 jet it rode to New York. After that it will be put on a barge in early June and brought up the Hudson River to the Intrepid, where it will be put on the flight deck.
Shuttle exhibit
The museum anticipates opening the shuttle exhibit to the public in mid-July.
The shuttle will be “the largest and most significant space artefact in the entire Northeast,” said Susan Marenoff-Zausner, Intrepid's president.
NASA's shuttle programme ended last year. Enterprise's place at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington has been taken by the shuttle Discovery. Shuttle Endeavor is going to Los Angeles, and shuttle Atlantis is staying at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
