Enterprise came to rest with wheels down around 4:02 p.m., pretty much exactly on time.įinally the yellow sling was detached around 6 p.m. Enterprise was raised some 75 feet and rotated nearly 180 degrees so her nose faced directly towards the Hudson River and the beautiful city and cliffs of Weehauken, in Hudson County, New Jersey, where I was watching and photographing from. The dramatic pluck of the 75 ton Enterprise off the Weeks Marine barge started around 3:45 p.m. The space shuttle Enterprise, atop a barge, passes the Statue of Liberty in New York on its way to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum where it will be permanently displayed.
Sailing by Statue of Liberty on June 6, 2012. The 240 foot crane used to hoist Enterprise is the same one used to lift the US Airways jet piloted by hero captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger out of the Hudson after an emergency water landing near the same exact spot in January 2009 – where all the passengers and crew on board miraculously survived. This was the same sling used to lift Enterprise onto and off the back of the 747 jet. Over the next three hours, technicians carefully attached a yellow steel harness sling to the 150,000 pound orbiter at four points, two in the front and two in the rear. The giant lifting crane was maneuvered into position in between the Intrepid and Enterprise. accompanied by a flotillia of police and water spraying fire boats, ferries, sailboats and pleasure craft. She arrived at the Intrepid, located at Pier 86 at 46th Street and 12th Avenue, at about 1 p.m. Credit: Ken KremerĮnterprise took one last beauty ride past the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero and the Freedom Tower before sailing North up the Hudson River and past the Empire State Building on Manhattan’s West Side enjoyed by throngs of onlookers and space enthusiasts lining the shores of New York and New Jersey. A giant Weeks Marine crane hoist Enterprise off the barge and onto the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on June 6, 2012. for the very last time on the final leg of her thrilling final voyage. Along the way the orbiter suffered some minor damage to the right wing tip when wind gusts caused her to scrape against a railroad bridge.Īfter a 24 hour postponement due to poor weather, a repaired shuttle Enterprise at last put out to sea again on Wednesday morning, June 6, at about 9:45 a.m.
Then the shuttle took a two day cruise on June 3 and June 6, towed by a tugboat departing from JFK on June 3 and voyaging through New York Harbor to the Statue of Liberty before making an intermediate stop at a port in Bayonne, New Jersey to switch to another larger barge. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.Įnterprise had been on public display at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum Annex in Virginia since 2003. First she flew piggyback on top of NASA’s specially modified 747 Jumbo Jet from Dulles International Airport for a triumphant fly over tour of the New York Metropolitan region on April 27 before touching down at John F. Credit: Ken KremerĮnterprise embarked on a long and winding road to reach the Intrepid which I witnessed at points along the way. Enterprise was then hoisted onto the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Enterprise transits the NYC skyline and the Empire State Building and arrives by barge at the Intrepid on June 6, 2012.
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