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Space Shuttle Collides With Bridge In New York
First time accepted submitter AbrasiveCat writes "While transporting the space shuttle Enterprise to its new home at the Intrepid Museum, a gust of wind caught the shuttle and pushed a wing tip into the South Channel Subway Bridge. With any luck it was just the protective covering that was damaged. Ah, New York traffic."
We were hoping that Britain would provide something of a buffer; but it looks like metric wind is making its way from the EU after all...
I wish they weren't so common.
The summary should reflect that the Space Shuttle was being transported on top of a barge at the time of collision. Very low speed impact, very little damage. Headline is misleadingly catastrophic.
it would have been taken care of better.
Stop it! Now!
Ready for throttle-up.
the level of anxiety I felt when reading the headline. I had to take a moment to remember they aren't in use.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Why am I both relieved and disappointed this wasn't an awesome space crash?
I wish there was a way to post a diagram of what I was imagining this article to be about, based on the headline alone.
Hint: It would have been the Brooklyn Bridge, and there would have been volcanoes and dinosaurs involved.
i was picturing something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msp2xO_TdQ4
i could live a little longer in this prison
THIS is why you CAN'T have nice things!
Should of sent it to Texas, we were more careful with our shuttle replica than they were with the real things it seems. Someones head is going to roll over this I bet.
Well, I can say there was nothing recognizable damaged to an untrained eye with a 300mm camera lens... I was on the bank of the bay, near the Verrazana-Narrows Bridge taking pictures... Maybe that's why they were late getting there, they might've stopped to inspect it after the collision.
There are many ambiguities in the summary.
1. The bridge was over water, not a roadway.
2. This was neither caused by "New York traffic" nor did it disrupt (land) traffic.
3. The protective covering that was damaged was on the Enterprise, not the bridge.
4. You can view photos of the damage yourself.
I'm so glad New York City got a Space Shuttle instead of the National Museum of the United State Air Force. That way, citizens can pay to see it (NMUSAF is totally free--including parking), in a setting that makes sense (there were carrier-based space shuttles, right?) and it's clustered next to another shuttle (less than eight hours NYC to DC, vs. putting it towards the center of the country). Further, this shows that the Intrepid museum is already providing the lack of care they have provided other artifacts.
Mission control should never have given the go-ahead in that kind of wind...
Oh, nevermind.
Wow,this is going to kill the value of it even more! It doesn't have the original box and instructions, now it's nicked up. NFW will they get the high dollar at ComicCon.
I guess it'll just have to be suspended on a string from the Statue of Liberty's arm.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Uh-oh! Now the shuttle is broken. If we ever needed to retrofit the shuttle with mining gear to save the world from an impending astroid collision, we're screwed!
these are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise?
...women drivers...
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Seriously, this thing is getting more press coverage then when it was in use. Also, does this mean the Earth's core is going to stop spinning?
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
I'm confused, do I go to the Cargo Letter or Airdisaster.com for news on this ?
Guess I should check Wrecked Exotics while I'm at it.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Have gnu, will travel.
[Scotty]: What, she didna' have her shields up?
A better headline would have been "Enterprise crashes into bridge"
I mean everybody knows the shuttles are retired, but CVN65 hasn't retired just yet (I think its on the last tour of duty) and I am sure an aircraft carrier would do a lot more damage, not to mention the potential of leaks from its 8 reactors.
If you were picturing that, I worry for your mind. Then, I watched most of it, I worry for mine. It was like Timecube in video.
Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
...if this headline was from two years ago.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
It's not like this is rocket science.
(anymore)
I saw Enterprise when it was still at Udvar-Hazy. I have also seen Discovery at its new home in Udvar-Hazy. I'm no rocket scientist, but Discovery was much more impressive. It... felt... like a spacecraft. Okay, now waiting for more knowledgeable people to tell me about the real differences in external appearance between Discovery and Enterprise, or alternatively, use me as an example of how external knowledge (Discovery was a real shuttle, Enterprise just a testbed) can affect perception.
That has got to be the most disappointing and under-delivering title vs summary in Slashdot history! If a spaceship collides with a bridge in New York, it better be going 200MPH or title it "shuttle scrapes bridge"
Traffic doesnt move fast enough in NYC to creat wind so why blame the traffic?lol
Jack of all trades,master of none
These things have been known to break up on re-entry.
And shortly after launch.
That will buff out!
__
Sigs are like arse-holes, everybody has one
After looking at the pictures, it's not like the Brooklyn bridge just jumped out in front of the barge carrying the shuttle. It was transiting a fairly narrow bridge. The wingspan on the shuttle is 78 feet, and a google map distance measurement of where the shuttle clipped the bridge says the space they had to work with was about 100 feet, give or take. That means if you absolutely threaded the needle, you should have had 11 feet (That's about 3.3 meters for you folks unfamiliar with a proper unit of measurement =) ) to work with on either side of the bird. That seems like a lot, but on a windy day.....very touchy.
https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=J+F+K+Airport,+New+York,+NY&aq=0&oq=JFK+&sll=40.639749,-73.824348&sspn=0.097239,0.057421&vpsrc=0&t=h&ie=UTF8&hq=J+F+K+Airport,+New+York,+NY&z=13&cid=17028024512003641840&iwloc=A
(if the link is jacked up, just go to JFK and work your way south east)
It looks like, from the pictures upthread, the shuttle hit the railroad bridge that sits between Cross Bay Blvd and JFK airport. I've ground handled large aircraft on the tarmac, and 11 feet is too close for comfort in my book. I don't envy the guys who had to try and make that work.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
I know the damage is minor, but it's just sad to see a symbol of our great space achievements be subject to so much indignity. Involved in a fender bender while riding on a garbage scow headed for New Jersey. Oh, Enterprise! I weep for thee.
[Scotty]: What, she didna' have her shields up?
[Cartwright] They're heading for the bridge!
"On the 4th of June 2012, on this spot, the Space Shuttle Enterprise crashed into this bridge."
Details are not that important. Awesome plaqueage is.
These clowns should never have been allowed to touch the Shuttle. That "cosmetic foam" was one of the most important structures/mechanisms on the shuttle: its heat shield that protected it from reentry. That reentry is what makes it a shuttle and not just a launcher. The heat shield foam was one of the most famous innovations brought by the shuttle programme. They didn't know that? Why didn't they cover the wingtips with something stronger than foam? They knew it was narrow clearance, in a usually windy passage.
But then, they evidently don't have artificial lighting to inspect their cargo after dark, either. Or schedules, so they'd know they'd need lights to inspect the shuttle for damage once they arrived, even if they hadn't obviously smashed it.
This was a brand-new Space Shuttle. They just broke it. Weeks Marine should have to buy NYC a new one.
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make install -not war
Saudi, you idiot.
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make install -not war
More people will visit the Enterprise at the Intrepid museum than would visit it anywhere else.
The middle of the country doesn't deserve to have the Moon in the sky, let alone a shuttle. What are you, some kind of communist?
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make install -not war
Is it just me, or is it blindingly obvious that if the barge was at least as wide as the shuttle, it'd be the barge scraped up and not the shuttle. Barges are generally more replaceable than shuttles, even if they are only flight test and landing mocks.
-- Terry
They had sent it to Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton to be housed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
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