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The Final Free Flight of the Enterprise
2 minutes, 1 second.
That’s how short the final flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise was on this day in 1977. Forty years ago, the beginning of the Shuttle era came to a close with the final free flight of the one Space Shuttle that never flew in space.
The Enterprise was used to conduct a series of Approach and Landing Tests that started in February of 1977 and ended on October 26th, 1977. These tests validated the flight capabilities of the Space Shuttle, ensuring that the orbiters could land and be ferried on a modified Boeing 747.
The last landing was a little rough, with the Shuttle bouncing back into the air once after its wheels first touched down, but astronauts Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton touched down without further incident. With the successful conclusion of the Approach and Landing Tests, NASA put the Enterprise to work on a series of Ground Vibration Tests at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in 1978.
With these tests completed, she was then ferried to Kennedy Space Center where ground crews mated the Enterprise to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters to ensure the Shuttle had a proper fit for the upcoming launch of Columbia.
In 1983, with all of the engineering tests at Kennedy Space Center completed, the Enterprise embarked on a trip to…
