The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has reopened the redesigned and rebuilt Space Shuttle Pavilion, showcasing the space shuttle Enterprise, NASA’s original orbiter that paved the way for America’s successful shuttle program.
The official ribbon cutting ceremony and public reopening of the Space Shuttle Pavilion took place almost nine months after the original structure housing Enterprise was damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
The space shuttle Enterprise was NASA’s first orbiter, a prototype that conducted critical tests within Earth’s atmosphere in 1977. These pioneering tests paved the way for the successful orbital flights of later shuttles, beginning with the first flight of the space shuttle Columbia in 1981. Following the retirement of the shuttles in 2011, NASA awarded Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
The Pavilion includes seventeen dynamic, content-rich exhibit zones enhanced by original artifacts, photographs, and films. New features immerse visitors of all ages in the sights, sounds, and stories of the history of NASA’s shuttle program and of Enterprise.
The new Pavilion will also showcase space shuttle cockpit instrumentation, providing visitors a sense of Enterprise’s flight deck.