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Shuttle Enterprise Flight Records

enterprise_747.jpg (24998 bytes)

The Enterprise never flew in space. It did, however, make 5 inactive captive, 3 active captive, and 5 free flights after being separated from the 747 shuttle carrier aircraft (SCA). The dates of these flights are:

Inert Captive (Mated to SCA, No Crew, Systems Inactive):
18 February 1977 (2 hours, 5 minutes)
22 February 1977 (3 hours, 13 minutes)
25 February 1977 (2 hours, 28 minutes)
28 February 1977 (2 hours, 11 minutes)
2 March 1977 (1 hour, 39 minutes)

Active Captive (Mated to SCA):
18 June 1977 (Haise, commander; Fullerton, pilot; 55 minutes, 46 seconds)
28 June 1977 (Engle, commander; Truly, pilot; 1 hour, 2 minutes)
26 July 1977 (Haise, commander; Fullerton, pilot; 59 minutes, 20 seconds)

Free:
12 August 1977 (Haise, commander; Fullerton, pilot; 5 minutes, 21 seconds)
13 September 1977 (Engle, commander; Truly, pilot; 5 minutes, 28 seconds)
23 September 1977 (Haise, commander; Fullerton, pilot; 5 minutes, 34 seconds)
12 October 1977 (Engle, commander; Truly, pilot; 2 minutes, 34 seconds)
26 October 1977 (Haise, commander; Fullerton, pilot; 2 minutes, 1 second)

The first four free flights made landings on a dry lake bed at Edwards AFB. The final free flight landed on the concrete runway at Edwards, as an actual flight returning from orbit would.

On all the captive flights and the first three free flights, Enterprise was fitted with a tail cone to reduce aerodynamic drag. The cone was removed for the final two flights to simulate actual flight conditions.

 


Page last modified: 20 June 2022 17:00:12.