Ship Photos of The Day – Space Shuttle Enterprise Hits the Water… and a Bridge [UPDATE]

Today’s ship photos come to us via New York City where the Space Shuttle Enterprise began its journey over the weekend from JFK International Airport to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

The Enterprise’s journey from JFK to the Intrepid was expected to take 2 days but was postponed due to bad weather.  Instead, the Enterprise was brought to Weeks Marine’s facility in Bayonne, NJ and is now expected to arrive at the Intrepid on June 6, where she will be hoisted by crane onto the iconic aircraft carrier that hovers over the West Side Highway.

Here she is on June 3rd getting loaded onto a barge owned by Weeks Marine.

Once loaded, the Enterprise set off on what was scheduled to be a two day tow to the Intrepid.  Here she is under tow by Weeks Marine tugs.  The lead tug shown here is Weeks Marine’s 2,000 HP tug, Shelby.

Still under tow, local pleasure craft could not resist the urge to get up close and personal with the Space Shuttle.  But the Coast Guard ensured no one got too close.

Here’s the Enterprise entering N.Y. Harbor as she passes under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Sunday, June 3.

Inclement weather delayed the Enterprise’s arrival at the Intrepid. She was forced to stop after the first leg of her journey in Bayonne, NJ and is expected to complete the trip on June 6th.

Update:

While passing by a New York railroad bridge on its way to Bayonne, NJ, an ill-timed gust of wind caused the space shuttle to (nearly) catch flight and clip it’s wing on the bridge.  Luckily, the damage was mearly cosmetic.

“The railroad bridge and the Cross Bay Bridge, each presented challenges,” said Dennis Jenkins, who was on board the barge with Enterprise. “The passage through the railroad bridge was narrow with only a few feet of clearance on each wingtip, while the Cross Bay was only a few feet higher than the vertical stabilizer, Mother Nature did not smile on us. Just as the barge entered the railroad bridge, the wind caught it and pushed the right wing into the bridge abutment.”

Here’s some video from the first leg of her journey from JFK to Bayonne, NJ.

Going back a few weeks, the Space Shuttle Enterprise arrived in NY on April 27 piggy-backed on top of a NASA 747 from Virginia. Here she is taking an aerial tour of her new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise exhibit aboard the Intrepid is scheduled to open to the public in mid-July.  Additional information about the exhibit can be found HERE.