News Enterprise Damaged by Hurricane Sandy

[cljohnston]

I checked the Intrepid webcam yesterday morning at about 4AM Pacific time, and the enclosure was intact. But that didn't last long, apparently...

Space shuttle Enterprise exposed, suffers damage from 'superstorm' Sandy | collectSPACE

After that tussle with the pier during her ride on the barge, the old girl's having a rough time of it!

 

[Thunder Chicken]

So... who thought an inflatable enclosure was a good idea?

Is there a more permanent home planned for the Enterprise, or are they just going to let the weather have at it?

BTW - is that a Mercury/Gemini capsule swinging on a crane in the 3rd picture? What the heck are they doing with these things?

 

[Hielor]

More proof that Houston should've gotten it instead of New York-- NY has no respect for the thing.

 

[cljohnston]

More proof that Houston should've gotten it instead of New York-- NY has no respect for the thing.

Agreed.

 

[boogabooga]

Or the fact that it's only a few hours drive from Discovery.

All orbiters are on the coasts, with none in the central part of the country.

 

[Hlynkacg]

More proof that Houston should've gotten it instead of New York-- NY has no respect for the thing.

Houston doesn't exactly treat thier artifacts with much respect either, just look at the state of thier Saturn 5 compared to KSC's or Marshall's.

If you ask me Enterprise should of gone to the USAF Museum as orignally planned

 

[Codz]

If you ask me Enterprise should of gone to the USAF Museum as orignally planned

Exactly my thoughts. It makes sense when you look at how all of its flight tests were performed at Edwards AFB.

 

[boogabooga]

Houston doesn't exactly treat thier artifacts with much respect either, just look at the state of thier Saturn 5 compared to KSC's or Marshall's.

If you ask me Enterprise should of gone to the USAF Museum as orignally planned

I would have liked that very much.
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NMUSAF is the #2 aviation museum in the US in terms of collection after the Smithsonian, and they would have been VERY qualified to look after her. (Probably #2 in the world, are there any others out there with more than 360 aircraft?) They include in their collection already a shuttle payload (DSP), and an intended payload (hexagon), a Titan IV launch vehicle, an original X-15, etc. They would have keep Enterprise in a climate controlled building from day 1. Oh yeah, and you would not have had to pay one cent of admission to see it.

I don't know why that they weren't chosen, but I presume it was because they were expecting more people would see it in New York. Dayton, Ohio isn't as "sexy" a city as LA, New York, Orlando, or Washington D.C. I don't know what Intrepid's yearly attendance is, but NMUSAF's 1.3 million is at least on par with the California Science Center. Or, NASA didn't want to emphasize the military application of the shuttle which would have been the case had it gone to a military museum (which I kind of get). Intrepid, after all, is still a private venture.

Still, Dayton got a crew compartment trainer, which is cool. You'll be able to see the flight deck up close, and they are planing an interactive exhibit around the thing. So, overall, I can't complain.