Reality Meets Science Fiction at First Space Shuttle Rollout
By Bob Granath
In 1976, America’s second-generation human space program came together with an iconic story line inspired by the nation’s first efforts to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” Key players in the popular televisions series, Star Trek, attended the rollout of NASA’s prototype Space Shuttle orbiter, Enterprise.
As the Apollo Program was drawing to a close, NASA developed plans for a reusable space-faring “truck’ to haul satellites and other equipment to low-Earth orbit. On Sept. 17, 1976, the first Space Shuttle rolled out at the Rockwell International Space Division’s orbiter assembly facility in Palmdale, California. While Enterprise never flew into space, sister ships, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour made 135 flights lifting off from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center.
The initial plan was to name the first of the new vehicles, Constitution. However, fans of the Star Trek TV show mounted an extensive letter-writing campaign asking President Gerald Ford and NASA to name the first orbiter after the show’s fictional star-ship, Enterprise, a centerpiece of the program that premiered in the fall of 1966.
On hand for the dedication were members of the original Star Trek show’s cast and its creator, producer and principal writer, Gene Rodenberry. The only member of the original series cast missing was actor William Shatner, who portrayed James T. Kirk, captain of the Enterprise.
Star Trek and several spin-off TV programs and movies remain so popular, the U.S. Postal Service released a set of four stamps on Sept. 2, 2016 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the premier of the Star Trek television series.
The Star Trek stamps highlight digital illustrations inspired by elements of the classic show. The stamps depict a silhouette of a crewman in a transporter against a red background, the Star-ship Enterprise inside the outline of a Starfleet insignia against a gold background, Spock’s iconic Vulcan hand salute, usually accompanied with the statement, “Live long and prosper,” and the silhouette of the Enterprise from above against a green background.
Before astronauts world lift off from the Florida spaceport for the first Space Shuttle mission, crews of two flew the shuttle Enterprise after being released from the top of a modified Boeing 747, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA. The new shuttle then landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
In 1977, Enterprise flew from the SCA on five successful Approach and Landing Test flights proving the flying and landing characteristics of the orbiter.
The first, third and fifth flights were piloted by NASA astronauts Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton. Haise served as lunar module pilot on Apollo 13’s ill-fated mission in April 1970. Fullerton would go on the fly on shuttle missions STS-3 and STS-51F.
The second and forth ALT flights were flown by astronauts Joe Engle and Dick Truly. Engle was a veteran of 16 missions aboard the X-15 research rocket plane, two of which exceeded 50 miles in altitude – the threshold of space. He also flew on Space Shuttle missions STS-2 and STS-51I. Truly flew with Engle on the second shuttle flight and commanded STS-8. He went on to serve as NASA administrator from 1989 to 1992.
First Space Shuttle, STS-1, launched April 12, 1981 fueled by a large external tank with launch supported by two solid rocket boosters. During three decades, shuttle crews deployed payloads such as the Hubble Space Telescope and constructed the International Space Station. After STS-135 in 2011, the Space Shuttle was retired.
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