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Hurricane Sandy Damages Space Shuttle Enterprise

SchrodingerZ writes "The now decommissioned Space Shuttle Enterprise appears to have been damaged by super storm Sandy, as it blew through New York City. The shuttle is currently on display on the deck of the USS Intrepid, as part of the Sea, Air, and Space museum on pier 86. The storm tore through the shuttle's inflatable pavilion which housed it, leaving a deflated mess over the space craft. It appears that the pavilion has damaged the vertical stabilizer on the tail of the craft. The museum has yet to comment on the situation. This is not the first time the Enterprise has been damaged however. As it was being towed through Jamaica Bay en route to its new home in Manhattan, the barge was hit by wind and forced the spacecraft's wingtip into a railroad bridge pylon ."

7 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. WELL LET'S NOT PUT A MAN IN SPACE WITH IT !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That would be dangerous !!

  2. Oh my... by cffrost · · Score: 4, Funny

    After this, I bet she'll never fly again. ;o(

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  3. Re:Of all the places that got a shuttle, by ShadowBlasko · · Score: 4, Informative

    New York was the least deserving. I'm not knocking New York itself, but the one at the Smithsonian isn't all that far away and they don't have a Space Center there.

    The only reason New York has a shuttle is it was the shuttle that was left after all the deserving blue states got one. Johnson deserved to get the Enterprise at the least, one of the others by any real world measurement of the situation. Texas is a red state, and granted Houston is more likely to get a hurricane than New York most of the time, but the partisan politics of the Enterprise sitting there at all is sickening. I don't care what your political leanings are, the obvious partisanship in the decision is as wrong as Google's current single sided issue promotion on their resources.

    You misspelled Dayton, where they know how to take care of historical aircraft and don't leave them out to rust in the sun, like Texas did.

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  4. Re:SO WHAT ?!? by bmo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You are comparing apples to pears. "Mona Lisa" is a chunk of dried paint and canvas that, granted, had its part in the history of art. Being a chunk of crusty paint and canvas, however, it can be replaced; and if it were to go lost, not many humans would spill tears over it. Enterprise, on the other hand, is a work of breakthrough engineering, science, and exploration, held dear by many more humans than said chunk of crusty dried paint on canvas. Moreover, Enterprise was crafted by many indivituals in a cooperative feat of engineering not seen since Apollo, many of those engineers being unsung geniuses who went on to further humanity through their engineering, which cannot be said for Leonardo Da Vinci, now long dead and no longer contributing to humanity. Last but not least, I do believe that you are a troll.

    *slap*

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    BMO

  5. Re:SO what!!! by EmagGeek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It costs $24 _per person_ just to get in to the Intrepid Museum. I do not know if they charge a rider for the shuttle tour.

    Keep in mind, every single museum exhibit at this place was paid for with money borrowed on behalf of the taxpayer. Now the taxpayer is paying again for the privilege of laying eyes on what what built using loans their great grandchildren never consented to, but nonetheless will be paying back under threat of force.

  6. Re:Of all the places that got a shuttle, by agentgonzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And stuff like this is why I'm bored with Americans and their petty squabbles. You have absolutely amazing feats of engineering with which you have accomplished utterly awe-inspiring things, yet you chose to spend most of your time squabbling over whether one group of millions of people should be coloured red or blue based on whether a slim majority voted for PersonA or PersonB in a hugely over-inflated popularity contest and the benefits that come with this apparent colouring.

    I'm sure you'll have some clever rebuttal, but I'll say it right here: I won't be bothered to read them.

  7. Man, who designed that thing? by EmagGeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    A piece of FOAM can rip through the wing, killing everyone on board and completely destroying the shuttle.

    A piece of inflatable vinyl tarp can damage the vertical stab by simply falling onto it.

    Damn... I'd hate to see what would happen if someone scowled at it harshly.