Forwarded message From: Dirk De Quick <dirk.de.quick@telenet.be>
Space shuttle Enterprise exposed, suffers damage from 'superstorm' Sandy
Space shuttle Enterprise, NASA's original prototype orbiter, is sitting exposed and appears to have been partially damaged by Hurricane Sandy after the severe storm passed over New York City on Monday night (Oct. 29).
On display on board the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, a converted aircraft carrier, since July, Enterprise had been protected from the elements inside a pressurized pavilion. Based on photos posted online, the inflatable structure appears to have first deflated and then torn by the winds of the now post-tropical storm cyclone.
Photos show the 180-foot-long (55 meters) by 60-foot-high (18 meters) pavilion's fabric exterior now lies draped over Enterprise, though much of the shuttle's nose section and part of its payload bay is uncovered. The orbiter's vertical stabilizer, or tail, is protruding out the top, where it looks like part of the spacecraft may have been torn away.
On display on board the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, a converted aircraft carrier, since July, Enterprise had been protected from the elements inside a pressurized pavilion. Based on photos posted online, the inflatable structure appears to have first deflated and then torn by the winds of the now post-tropical storm cyclone.
Photos show the 180-foot-long (55 meters) by 60-foot-high (18 meters) pavilion's fabric exterior now lies draped over Enterprise, though much of the shuttle's nose section and part of its payload bay is uncovered. The orbiter's vertical stabilizer, or tail, is protruding out the top, where it looks like part of the spacecraft may have been torn away.
Thx Dirk
