This, the first orbiter constructed, was built as a test vehicle for flight testing in the atmosphere. Officially designated OV- 101, it was named Enterprise after the famous starship of that name in the cult TV sci-fi series 'Star Trek'. Built by Rockwell International at Downey in California, Enterprise was rolled out in September 1976 and was towed to the nearby Dryden Flight Research Centre on the last day of January 1977. At Dryden Enterprise began a series of 13 approach and landing tests (ALT). For these tests the orbiter was mounted piggy-back on a modified 747 jumbo jet, the shuttle carrier aircraft (SCA). After taxi tests, Enterprise made several captive flights fixed to the SCA, both unmanned and manned. Finally, on August 12, 1977, Frederick Haise and Gordon Fullerton took over the controls when Enterprise made its first free gliding flight to a runway touchdown after separating from the SCA at some 7,000 metres. Four further flights followed, the last taking place on October 26, after which the shuttle design had proved aerodynamically immaculate. In 1978 Enterprise was located at the Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Alabama, where it underwent rigorous vibration testing. In spring 1979 it was ferried to the Kennedy Space Center, where it was used to build the first shuttle stack and demonstrate the shape of things to come. This stack was rolled out on May 1, 1979, and transported to the launch pad for fitting tests. By this time the first operational orbiter, Columbia, was already at the Center, being prepared for its first flight. That flight finally took place on April 12, 1981. Thereafter, Enterprise was part of space history, although it subsequently was flown all around the world on public relation exercises.
