Space Shuttle Enterprise was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield. As a result, it was not capable of spaceflight.
Enterprise in flight in 1977, during ALT-13
Enterprise being lifted onto the deck of Intrepid in June 2012
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (third from right, in dark brown), the Star Trek cast (with the exception of William Shatner) and NASA administrators attending Enterprise's rollout ceremony
Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton (wearing oxygen mask) in Enterprise's cockpit, 1977
The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle, a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program. Operated from 1977 to 2011 by NASA, the U.S. space agency, this vehicle could carry astronauts and payloads into low Earth orbit, perform in-space operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider, returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth.
Discovery approaches the International Space Station (ISS) on STS-121
Space Shuttle forward reaction control thrusters
Space Shuttle glass cockpit (simulated, composite image)
A window on Endeavour's aft flight deck
