One of the biggest requirements of the Air Force was the ability to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California so that classified missions could be completed quickly and efficiently. Two events likely led to the decision to use a rocket/space plane system for the shuttle: the advent of thermal insulation tiles by Lockheed, which made it affordable and convenient to insulate an airplane-like design, and the order by Congress that the next space vehicle meet not only the requirements of NASA but also the U.S. As a prototype, Enterprise was largely responsible for making sure these new technologies and concepts worked properly to ensure the safety of the astronauts who would fly aboard the other vehicles. Space flight capabilities went from disposable rockets and capsules to a reusable cargo space plane in only twenty years there was no transitional design. While airplanes tend to slowly evolve over time through constant adjustments based on testing and performance, the systems and design of the shuttle was unprecedented.
Unlike typical aviation advancement, the space shuttle was a major technological leap forward. The intent was to develop a reusable and affordable vehicle that could travel to and from space routinely, easily, and affordably. Planning for the Space Shuttle Program had begun in 1968, ten months before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. While called Enterprise, the prototype NASA orbiter was formally known as Orbiter Vehicle-101 or OV-101, and represented the culmination of years of research, design, and experimentation. The Star Trek write-in campaign apparently influenced President Ford and the show’s fans are generally credited as being the driving force behind the shuttle’s name change. Navy ship that serviced an aircraft carrier of that name. “I’m a little partial to the name Enterprise,” said Gerald Ford, noting that he had served in the Pacific during World War II aboard a U.S.
But as NASA’s plans became publicly known, thousands of fans of Star Trek – which had gone off the air several years earlier in 1969 – began a write-in campaign to the White House urging President Gerald Ford to name the orbiter Enterprise in honor of the fictional starship.
NASA had initially suggested naming the prototype Constitution and even wanted to unveil the spacecraft on September 17 – Constitution Day. (Photo Credit – National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F.
#MODEL OF 1981 SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE WOODEN BASE SERIES#
The model of the Starship Enterprise used during shooting of the Star Trek television series is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Waiting outside were a crowd of VIPs that included six cast members of the Star Trek crew, and series creator Gene Roddenberry. It was 45 years ago this September when the Space Shuttle Enterprise rolled out of its assembly building at Rockwell International Space Division’s facility in Palmdale, California. In 2013 I was honored to document that historical connection as part of support for the listing the NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise on the state and national historic registers as culturally and technologically significant. A decade after the show went off the air, those fans helped see to it that America’s first prototype of a reusable orbiting spacecraft would also carry that name. Science fiction fans worldwide recognize the name “Enterprise” as the name of the starship in iconic 1960s television series Star Trek. Sometimes, Parks’ historic researchers like me working on the register listings get to take on the story of something truly out of this world.
About four times each year, State Parks adds a variety of properties to the State Register of Historic Places, a step towards later being listed on the National Register of Historic Places as important pieces of America’s broad cultural heritage.īut while the vast majority of these listings are buildings, like factories, churches, homes, libraries or schools, that’s not always the case.
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