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.
SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE LAUNCH DATE 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. Space Shuttle program, coincidentally took place exactly 20 years after Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel to space, on April 12, 1961.Īs of 2011, the day of April 12 was declared by the United Nations as International Day of Human Space Flight, "to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.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. A technical problem delayed takeoff until the 12th.Īs a result, the first launch of Columbia and thus the first launch of the U.S. Originally, Columbia was scheduled to launch two days earlier, on April 10.
Courtesy of NASAĬlick here to subscribe to This Day in Weather HistoryĬolumbia was the first aircraft-like shuttle that launched like a rocket and landed like a plane.Īfter two days, six hours, 20 minutes, and 53 seconds orbiting the planet, Columbia landed, having travelled 1,728,000 km. The STS-1 crew members, Commander John W. It was America's first crewed mission since the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975. 12 launch at Pad 39A of STS-1, just seconds past 7 a.m., carried astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen into an Earth orbital mission scheduled to last for 54 hours, ending with unpowered landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California." Courtesy of NASA/WikipediaĪboard the flight was the mission's commander, John W. Prior to this, the Space Shuttle Enterprise had performed atmospheric tests, but Columbia was the first to reach space and travel around the Earth. It was the first launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and NASA's first orbital flight of the Space Shuttle program. 12, 1981, NASA's Space Transportation System-1 (or STS-1) mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.
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