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The Space Shuttle ''Enterprise'' ( built for NASA . She was constructed without engines or a functional Heat Shield and was therefore not capable of space operations; her purpose was to perform test flights in the atmosphere. Originally, ''Enterprise'' had been intended to be refitted for orbital flight, which would have made her the second space shuttle to fly after ''Columbia'' . However, during the construction of ''Columbia'', details of the final design changed, particularly with regard to the weight of the fuselage and wings. Refitting ''Enterprise'' for flight would have involved dismantling the orbiter and returning the sections to subcontractors across the country, an expensive proposition; as such, it was deemed cheaper to build ''Challenger'' around a body frame ("STA-099") that had been created as a test article. Similarly, ''Enterprise'' was considered for refit to replace ''Challenger'' after the latter was Destroyed , but ''Endeavour'' was built from structural spares instead. SERVICE Construction was begun on the first Orbiter on June 4 , 1974 . Designated OV-101, she was originally planned to be named ''Constitution''. However, a write-in campaign caused her to be renamed after the Starship ''Enterprise'' , featured on the television show '' Star Trek ''. The design of OV-101 was not the same as that planned for OV-102, the first flight model; the tail was constructed differently, and she did not have the interfaces to mount OMS pods. A large number of subsystems - ranging from main engines to radar equipment - was not installed on this vehicle, but the capacity to add them in future was retained. During summer 1976, the orbiter was used for ground vibration tests, allowing engineers to compare data from an actual flight vehicle with theoretical models. On September 17 , 1976 , ''Enterprise'' was rolled out of Rockwell's plant at Palmdale, California . In keeping with her name, most of the cast of the original series of Star Trek , as well as creator Gene Roddenberry , were on hand at the dedication ceremony, and the show's theme music was played. , 1977 .]] Approach & landing tests On January 31 , 1977 , she was taken by road to Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base , to begin operational testing. Whilst at NASA Dryden, ''Enterprise'' was used by NASA for a variety of ground and flight tests intended to validate aspects of the shuttle program. The initial nine-month testing period was referred to by the acronym ALT, for "Approach and Landing Test". These tests included a maiden "flight" on February 18 , 1977 atop a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to measure structural loads and ground handling and braking characteristics of the mated system. Ground tests of all orbiter subsystems were carried out to verify functionality prior to atmospheric flight. The mated ''Enterprise''/SCA combination was then subjected to five test flights with Enterprise unmanned and unactivated. The purpose of these test flights was to measure the flight characteristics of the mated combination. These tests were followed with three test flights with ''Enterprise'' manned in order to test the shuttle flight control systems. Finally, ''Enterprise'' underwent five free flights where the craft separated from the SCA and was landed under astronaut control. These tests verified the flight characteristics of the orbiter design and were carried out under several aerodynamic and weight configurations. See ALT table below for complete list of ALT flight tests. Preparation for STS-1 Following the ALT program, ''Enterprise'' was ferried between several NASA facilities to configure the craft for vibration testing. Ultimately, she was mated with an external tank and solid rocket boosters and tested in a launch configuration at Kennedy Space Center launch pad 39A. Retirement With the completion of critical testing, ''Enterprise'' was partially disassembled to allow certain components to be reused in other shuttles, then underwent a world tour visiting France , Germany , Italy , the United Kingdom , Canada , and the US states of California , Alabama , and Louisiana . She was also used to fit-check the never-used shuttle launch pad, SLC-6 at Vandenberg AFB, California . Finally, on November 18 , 1985 , ''Enterprise'' was ferried to Washington, D.C. , where she became property of the Smithsonian Institution . Post-''Challenger'' After the Challenger disaster, NASA had a choice of which shuttle to use as a replacement. They could have refitted Enterprise with all of the necessary equipment needed for it to be used in space, but instead they elected to use leftovers from the fabrication of '' Discovery '' and '' Atlantis '' to make what is now '' Endeavour ''. Post-''Columbia'' In 2003, after the breakup of ''Columbia'' during re-entry, the panel on ''Columbia'' was 2.5 times weaker, this strongly suggested that the RCC leading edge would have been shattered. Additional tests on the fiberglass were canceled in order not to risk damaging the test apparatus, and a panel from ''Discovery'' was tested to know the effects of the foam on a similarly-aged RCC leading edge. A piece of foam from the external fuel tank broke off and struck the leading edge of ''Columbia's'' left wing during launch. The '' Columbia Accident Investigation Board '' determined that this impact caused a breach of a Reinforced Carbon-Carbon panel along the leading edge of ''Columbia's'' left wing, allowing super-heated gases generated during re-entry to enter the wing and cause structural collapse. This caused ''Columbia'' to spin out of control, breaking up with the loss of all crew. hangar near Dulles Airport .]] Current status ''Enterprise'' was at the Smithsonian's hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport before being moved to the newly-built Smithsonian's National Air And Space Museum 's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles, where she is the centerpiece of the space collection. TABLE OF ALT FLIGHTS
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