October 17, 2012
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Intrepid & Enterprise
World War II Battle Ship & Space Shuttle
As we approached the Intrepid, I noticed a cruise ship in the background and remembered seeing the airplanes on the flight deck of this vessel when we left on our cruise in January. Back then I didn’t realize it was the Intrepid.
I suppose there are much larger ships, but it looked huge to me.
The flight deck of the ship holds many airplanes and the space shuttle.
Lockheed A-12 Blackbird
These performed sensitive intelligence gathering missions beginning in 1962 with a maximum speed of 2,210 mph at 75,000 ft. (that’s three times the speed of sound).
If was fun seeing one of these up close.
Intrepid Museum is proud to be one of the few places in the world to provide the opportunity for visitors to get an up close view of a space shuttle – inside the balloon-shaped pavilion.
My first words were, “Oh, wow!” as I saw how huge it was.
Flying over Central Park as the Enterprise arrived in New York City in early June.
This is one of the pictures I saw on TV that day, causing me to want to see it up close.
I was not disappointed.
Comments (8)
How exciting it must have been to see all this in person — I got excited just looking at your great pictures!!
A lot of experimental work went into making the space shuttle capable of doing multiple things.
Who would have thought that they would launch a space shuttle during a rare freeze in Florida?
Other problems was the debris from launch would hit the shuttle and knock off some of the tiles. I am glad not that many tragedies happened with the space shuttle program.
How very exciting, Doris — I can’t wait to be able to see Endeavour, and this gives some wonderful background information for that visit! I love the shot of the shuttle being carried over Central Park! No wonder you were excited to make the trip to New York!
@myhopeisinjesus - I love learning about and seeing things new to me, and it was thrilling to be there.
@PPhilip - I found it so interesting to learn more about this shuttle. Thanks for your comments.
@slmret - I know you will enjoy a visit to see Endeavour. Do you know when it will be available to visitors.
@cerwindoris - Endeavour should be open to the public by the end of the month — the 29th, I think. It will be in a temporary exhibit, in horizontal position (flight position) for about 5 years while they build a permanent structure — then it will be in launch position. I’ll wait until the crowds subside a bit, and probably go to see it after about the first of the year — and then again in 5 years I’ll want to see it ready to launch!
You will enjoy it I am sure.