The shuttle program began officially in 1972. The first space shuttle to be built was named Constitution (the official designation was OV-101). This was a fitting name in honor of America’s bicentennial. Although by 1976, because of a national write-in campaign urging then President Ford to change the name, the shuttle became Enterprise. The name, based on the popular television show Star Trek, was an ironic choice. The television show’s fictional spacecraft “Enterprise” traveled through space; the real spacecraft Enterprise would never leave earth’s atmosphere. One wonders that if fans of this show had waited a few years to voice their case for the name change Enterprise might have made its way onto a shuttle with spaceflight status.
Despite the name change, on September 17, 1976 Orbiter Vehicle 101 was ready for flight-testing and was rolled out of the Rockwell assembly plant in Palmdale California. Next, on January 31, 1977, the shuttle was transported 36 miles to Dryden. How would a 150,000-pound vehicle be transported there? Simple, it was trucked by way of local highways and roads. The trip took most of the day. Along the way, many power lines were rerouted because Enterprise’s tail fin would have snagged on them. Needless to say, this had an effect on the local traffic.
