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Photo Gallery: Preparing Enterprise for flight

Related article: NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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Space shuttle Enterprise has been on display since 2003 at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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A NASA-United Space Alliance team has been inspecting Enterprise to ensure it can be ferried safely to a new museum.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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The view from under Enterprise looking forward. The inspections have been performed as tourists come through the museum.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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A ladder leads up into Enterprise's starboard, or right, main landing gear well. A future test will ensure the gear can be retracted.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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Technicians gain entry into Enterprise's aft interior through an external tank umbilical door located on its belly.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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"Wow, that's what it really looks like behind all of that other stuff," described NASA's Martin Boyd, referring to the many systems Enterprise is missing as compared to the space-worthy orbiters.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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Minor corrosion was found around the arrowhead fitting, the forward attach point for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

Above:

The arrowhead attach point hardware. "The strongest part of the vehicle are the attach points. They are much stronger than the [landing] gear or any other part of the vehicle," described Boyd.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

Above, below:

USA technicians work to reinstall a carrier panel bordering Enterprise's starboard, or right, wing leading edge.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

Above:

An open access panel along the port side of Enterprise.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

Above:

The technicians tested the elevon and other flight control surfaces to make sure they could still be set as needed for flight.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

Above, below:

A technician reinstalls panels along Enterprise's body flap after its actuators were inspected.



NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

NASA readies retired test shuttle Enterprise for one last flight

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