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The Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum is built on the flight deck of the decommissioned aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Intrepid (CV-11) and is located at Pier 86 on the Hudson River in Manhattan. The flight deck includes lots of military aircraft including a Lockheed A-12 Blackbird which was the precursor to the SR-71 Blackbird supersonic reconnaissance plane. There is also a former British Airways Concorde on display and available for tours. You'll also see an F-14 Tomcat which of course was the signature plane in the 1986 blockbuster movie "Top Gun". Also at this museum is the U.S.S. Growler Submarine! For me, this would be the second aircraft carrier I would visit on an Amtrak trip! The first was the U.S.S. Midway (CV-41) back in 2006 in San Diego, CA. The way this museum is structured, certain attractions carry separate admission charges. I paid $31.00 to visit the main flight deck and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. The ticket includes one trip inside the Space Shuttle Pavilion where the shuttle is located, so I made sure to take a ton of pictures while here!!!
Space Shuttle Enterprise (designated as OV-101, or Orbiter Vehicle 101) was built as a test shuttle with no engines and no heat shield so there was no way it could actually go into space. It was also named "Enterprise" after a very serious letter-writing campaign started by fans of the TV show "Star Trek", who wanted it named after the "Starship Enterprise". According to NASA, it was used to test the critical phases of landing and other aspects of shuttle preparations. For these tests, it was brought in the air atop a modified Boeing 747, and was released over a dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base in California to prove it could glide and land safely.
This shuttle was at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum in Chantilly, VA (where I'll be tomorrow to see the next shuttle, Discovery) but when the 3 active shuttles were retired, it was determined that the Smithsonian would get Discovery and this shuttle would be moved here. Enterprise did a final flight on the top of a modified Boeing 747 and would fly around the New York City area before eventually being transported on a barge to its permanent home here at the Intrepid Museum. If you're in the New York area, I definitely recommend you spend at least an entire day here if you can as there's so much to see!!! Below is some interesting trivia about the shuttle, and then it's onto the photos of the shuttle and a few other attractions at this incredible museum!!!
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The pavilion that surrounds the shuttle was built around the shuttle when it was placed on the flight deck of the Intrepid. A good wide-angle lens
is an absolute must if you're gonna try to photograph this shuttle. You do get to stand very close to it which is cool!
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| A "head-on" view of Enterprise! |
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| Another front view of the shuttle, looking from slightly the other side. |
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| Another wide-angle view from the flight deck level of the Enterprise. |
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| The shuttle's Crew Hatch for entry into the Crew Compartment. |
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| Remember the "spaghetti" NASA logo? |
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This shroud was used on the shuttle when it did glide tests. When the operational shuttles had to be flown back to Florida after landing at
Edwards Air Force Base in California, they would also have a shroud similar to this one applied over the engines to protect them en route.
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| A closer view of the side of the shuttle. |
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| The vertical stabilizer on the shuttle. |
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| A view of the undercarriage, you can stand very close to the shuttle but not quite touch it! |
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| Another side view of this impressive shuttle! |
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| Some impressive landing gear on this shuttle! |
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| This fine exhibit gives a brief history of all of the shuttles. |
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| I needed proof I was here! |
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Of Course, this is an aircraft carrier! The Shuttle Pavilion building is seen in the left of the photo along with lots of military aircraft on display.
The river in the background is of course, the mighty Hudson with the City Of Weehawkin, NJ in the background.
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| Lots more aircraft on the flight deck of the Intrepid with the greatest city in the world, New York in the background! |
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| Look closely in this photo, around about the center, you'll see me in the mirror, photographing me! |
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| Also on display, and open for tours is a former British Airways Concorde jet. |
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| A Lockheed A-12 Blackbird supersonic reconnaissance plane. |
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The F-14 Tomcat, the plane from Top Gun (though this one sports a different paint scheme)!
Now I'm hearing that song "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins playing in my head!!! |
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My main reason for being here of course was to see the shuttle but as I was saying earlier, there's a ton of stuff to see here if you have an interest in military aviation especially! Once I was done visiting the shuttle, I would get another taxi back to Penn Station, though that proved harder than I thought as it was much harder to hail a cab from here for some reason! Once one did pick me up, the fare back there was only $10.00 including the tip, still quite reasonable! Once back at Penn Station, I would briefly meet up with a friend of mine who is an engineer for Amtrak and talked briefly before heading over to Nathan's and having lunch including one of their signature New York City hot dogs! After lunch, I sat in the main waiting area for passengers, waiting for the boarding call for Northeast Regional Train #129 to bring me back to Washington. For more information on the Intrepid Air, Sea, & Space Museum, check out their web site below! Special thanks to NASA and the Intrepid Museum for historical information included on this page about Space Shuttle Enterprise! And let's now head back to Washington!!!
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