Repaired Space Shuttle Enterprise to set Sail on Final Voyage
NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise suffered minor damage to a wingtip on June 3, during the initial stages of her seagoing journey to her new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Inset shows location of the damage, which has since been repaired. Credit: Ken Kremer
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Enterprise, post boo-boo and postponed a day by rainy weather, should arrive at the Intrepid today !
The final leg of the final voyage of Space Shuttle Enterprise is due to conclude on Wednesday, June 6 with a journey by barge up the Hudson River on Manhattan’s West Side to her permanent new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
And it can’t come soon enough. As might be expected, Barge rides for Space Shuttles can be both visually stunning and downright perilous.
And for the initial seagoing leg of Enterprise’s journey on Sunday, June 3, it was a mixture of both – mostly thrilling (as I can attest) plus a few bad moments
During Sunday’s transit of Enterprise across the New York skyline, the shuttle suffered some minor damage to the wing tip (see photo above) soon after she set sail.
According to collectSpace.com, Enterprise grazed a New York railroad bridge when wind gusts caused the shuttle loaded aboard the Weeks Marine barge to veer off course.
“Mother nature did not smile on us. Just as the barge entered the railroad bridge, the wind caught it and pushed the right wing into the bridge abutment. Fortunately, the damage seems to be cosmetic, limited to the foam that covered the wingtip. No structure or mechanisms appear to have been damaged,” wrote Dennis Jenkins who was aboard the barge with Enterprise.
The remainder of the voyage went off without a hitch and was enjoyed by throngs of onlookers including myself.
I caught some shots of the damage late in the day as the crew from Weeks Marine was towing Enterprise into port for the night.
Workers have already repaired Enterprise, the Intrepid said in a statement.
On Wednesday morning, Enterprise is due to set sail atop a barge from Bayonne, New Jersey from where she docked on Sunday, June 3 on the initial leg of her seagoing journey to her permanent new home.
Enterprise is scheduled to depart from Bayonne at 10:15 am and then make her way North passing the Statue of Liberty at approximately 10:52 am and Ground Zero at about 11:30 am says the Intrepid. She will reach the Museum at around 12:30 pm and be hoisted onto the flight deck later in the day – all of which is weather permitting.
On July 19, Enterprise will be opened to public viewing
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