lws@hou2d.UUCP (lwsamocha) (02/12/86)
* >> Second question: someone recently posted some pertinent questions about >> the Enterprise. What is it's exact status? Is is a fully operational >> shuttle or can it be made into a fully operational shuttle? It would seem >> to be a far cheaper/faster solution rather than having another one built >> from scratch. > >Its exact status (at least as of last Dec 17, when I saw it) was that of >apron-weight, holding down the turf at Dulles International. I believe >that it is being readied for transfer to some part of the Smithsonian, but >I could be wrong about that. Wouldn't it look great hanging above the >Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo in the Air&Space? :-> I was led to believe that the Enterprise was being used as a test vehicle at the Vandenburg site and is not operational. TV footage (as of yesterday) shows the Enterprise at the launch pad at the Vandenburg complex. What was that you saw at Dulles? LWS hou2d!lws *
ins_aeas@jhunix.UUCP (Earle A .Sugar) (02/14/86)
> > > >Its exact status (at least as of last Dec 17, when I saw it) was that of > >apron-weight, holding down the turf at Dulles International. I believe > >that it is being readied for transfer to some part of the Smithsonian, but > >I could be wrong about that. Wouldn't it look great hanging above the > >Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo in the Air&Space? :-> > > > I was led to believe that the Enterprise was being used as > a test vehicle at the Vandenburg site and is not operational. > > TV footage (as of yesterday) shows the Enterprise at the launch > pad at the Vandenburg complex. > > What was that you saw at Dulles? > > LWS > hou2d!lws > > * I'm really getting tired of unfounded, wrong speculation on this newsgroup. The test vehicle Enterprise is sitting on an airport tarmac in D.C. and is now part of the Smithsonian collection. The Smithsonian is building an annex at either Dulles or National and will be an outdoor display of various vehicles too large for the main Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Or so says the Wash. Post. Anyway, the Enterpirse has been sitting in D.C. now since summer (it and the 747 carrying it flew over this city, Baltimore, on the way as a P.R. stunt for the Smithsonian). Please, people, if you have to say something make sure there is some evidence to back it. I'm tired of seeing postings saying that the our Hopkins U.V. Telescope was on Challenger (it wasn't), or that the another major project we are working with, the Space Telescope, was on board (it wasn't and wasn't scheduled to go up until late October). I'm sure that Dr. Durrance, the Hopkins mission specialist that was to go up with the H.U.(V)T. would be suprised to find out that he was blown up with Challenger:-). By the way, the shuttle at Vandenburg is the Discovery. That is the shuttle that DoD will be using in the frseeable future for Vandenburg launches, as far as I am told by several sources. -- ______________________________________________________________________________ Earle A. Sugar Disclaimer:"I doubt anyone else here agrees with me." USENET: ...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!aplcen!jhunix!ins_aeas CSNET:ins_aeas@jhunix.csnet ARPA:ins_aeas%jhunix.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa BITNET: INS_BEAS@JHUVMS (as a last resort) "If you don't expect anything, you'll never be dissappointed." or call 301-889-0815 after 6 P.M. EST
hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) (02/14/86)
In article <874@hou2d.UUCP> lws@hou2d.UUCP writes: >* >>> Second question: someone recently posted some pertinent questions about >>> the Enterprise. What is it's exact status? Is is a fully operational >> >>Its exact status (at least as of last Dec 17, when I saw it) was that of >>apron-weight, holding down the turf at Dulles International. I believe >>that it is being readied for transfer to some part of the Smithsonian, but >>I could be wrong about that. Wouldn't it look great hanging above the >>Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo in the Air&Space? :-> > >I was led to believe that the Enterprise was being used as >a test vehicle at the Vandenburg site and is not operational. > >TV footage (as of yesterday) shows the Enterprise at the launch >pad at the Vandenburg complex. > >What was that you saw at Dulles? > >LWS The Enterprise did a PR run at Vandenburg some months ago; you may have seen a picture of it erected into launch position in advertisements for Air Force security recruiting. It sits at Dulles airport, along with all those nice airplanes the Smithsonian hasn't got room for, waiting for someone to decide where to put them. Last I heard, the plan was to construct additional concourses at Dulles and to designate a section as an Air and Space Museum remote site. -dave -- David Hsu Communication & Signal Processing Lab, EE Department <disclaimer> University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 hsu@eneevax.umd.edu {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu "They were the elite, the vanguard of progress. They would take mankind to the heights...and perhaps beyond." -Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood's End