Enterprise (OV-101)

Enterprise
Class:	Space shuttle
Registry:	OV-101
Affiliation:	United States of America, NASA
Launched:	1976
Status:	maintained as museum piece

The Enterprise (OV-101) was a space shuttle commissioned by the United States of America's NASA space agency in the year 1976, and was the first Earth space vehicle to bear the name Enterprise.

History

Enterprise was constructed by Rockwell International in a United States Air Force hangar in California. She was named for the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, as the brother of one of Rockwell International's project managers was stationed aboard that ship and lost his life in service during World War II. (TOS - The Lost Years novel: A Flag Full of Stars)

In reality, the space shuttle Enterprise was so named following a letter writing campaign by Star Trek fans to President Gerald Ford.

As a prototype vehicle, the Enterprise was not actually completed with the systems required to enter orbit, but was instead built mainly to verify the viability of certain technology—such as the landing systems of the space shuttle. Enterprise took her first flight in 1977. After a number of test flights within Earth's atmosphere, Enterprise was retired as a museum piece. Although there was the possibility of having Enterprise refit as an operational vehicle, the space shuttle program ended on reference stardate -1/92 without the prototype ever having left Earth's atmosphere. (ST references: Spaceflight Chronology, Star Trek Chronology; TOS - The Lost Years novel: A Flag Full of Stars)

Legacy

Images of this ship were displayed in Captain Jonathan Archer's quarters aboard the Earth Starfleet ship Enterprise (NX-01), and also on the recreation deck of the Federation Starfleet starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). (Star Trek: Enterprise, TOS movie: The Motion Picture)

The Enterprise was maintained as a museum ship by the Federation. In the 2270s decade, on the tricentennial anniversary of Earth's first series of lunar landings, the Dart Project saw the Enterprise fitted with orbital maneuvering thrusters and impulse engines by a team of Starfleet engineers that included Commander Montgomery Scott. Hull markings and pennants were also restored, with the US flag updated to show the proper 56 stars. The red and silver Federation standard was also added. Interior controls were replaced with state-of-the-art 23rd century technology—very similar to standard shuttlecraft controls. The shuttle was flown outside of Earth orbit for the first time in the company of the saucer section of the USS Enterprise, the saucer having been recently separated during an extensive refit process. (TOS - The Lost Years novel: A Flag Full of Stars)

In the 24th century, the Enterprise was displayed at the Starfleet Museum of Deep Space Exploration. (Ships of the Line 2014)

Appendices

References

• ST reference: USS Enterprise Owners' Workshop Manual
• ST reference: Star Trek Encyclopedia

External link

• Enterprise (OV-101) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• Space Shuttle Enterprise article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.