Space shuttle Enterprise lands at New York City's Intrepid museum

June 6, 2012 — For the first time in history, a space shuttle landed aboard an aircraft carrier, but instead of catching an arresting wire at high speed, the winged orbiter was gently lowered onto the flight deck by crane.

Space shuttle Enterprise, NASA's 1970's prototype for its now-retired spacecraft fleet, arrived at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City at 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 GMT) on Wednesday (June 6) after a morning sea trek by barge from a port in Jersey City, NJ. The Intrepid, which is docked on Manhattan's west side, is a retired World War II aircraft carrier that is now used to house aerospace and maritime exhibits.

The craning operation to deliver the 150,000 pound (68,000 kilogram) Enterprise on the museum's steel-enforced flight deck took about four hours to complete.

Enterprise's arrival was the latest, and at least for a while, final leg in its journey to be displayed at the Manhattan museum, which included a flight on top of a NASA jumbo jet and a three-day trip by barge between the Big Apple and Garden State. With Enterprise now sitting on its flight deck, the Intrepid will begin work raising a climate-controlled, steel and fabric shelter over the shuttle, to protect it while its on display.

The Intrepid's new "Space Shuttle Pavilion" is set to open to the public on July 19, kicking off a 3-day "SpaceFest" at the museum. Thousands of spectators got an early look at the shuttle on Wednesday as they watched it move up the Hudson River.