HOUSTON – The bubble-like housing that protected Space Shuttle Enterprise collapsed overnight as Hurricane Sandy pummeled New York City with wind and rain.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the prototype shuttle itself was damaged.

Photos on Twitter showed Enterprise’s nose and tail exposed with the collapsed housing draped over it.

As of Tuesday morning the shuttle remained exposed to the elements.

The exhibit opened July 19 on the deck of the USS Intrepid.

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Und Sandy von ganz Oben aus gesehen:

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NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft captured this infrared image of Hurricane Sandy, another weather front to the west and cold air coming down from Canada at 2:17 p.m. EDT Oct. 29. The hurricane center is the darkest purple area in the Atlantic just to the east of the New Jersey coast, reflecting Sandy's areas of heaviest rainfall. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured this visible image of Hurricane Sandy battering the U.S. East coast on Monday, Oct. 29 at 9:10 a.m. EDT. Sandy's center was about 310 miles south-southeast of New York City. Tropical Storm force winds are about 1,000 miles in diameter. Credit: NASA GOES Project