Photo of the Enterprise earlier this week courtesy of NASA
[UPDATE: We haves photographs now!] Last April, after a lot of lobbying, New York City was granted one of NASA's retired Space Shuttles. Sure, it's the shuttle that performed test flights in the atmosphere and never actually orbited space, but it's our shuttle. Today the Enterprise will finally come (to its new) home—flying over Hudson River, the Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. (The arrival was already delayed once due to unfavorable weather.)
Expect to spot it between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., after which it will land at JFK. We're told the shuttle (attached to a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft) will be flying at a low 1,500 feet, so you'll be able to capture some great photos of the event (check out the Discovery flying over D.C.). There will also be two T-38's serving as photo support flying alongside of it.
If you get some good shots, send them along to us at [email protected], tag them "Gothamist" on Flickr, or hashtag them #Gothamist on Instagram. Our photographer Katie Sokoler is on the ground at JFK, and later today we'll have her photos of the shuttle's arrival there.
UPDATE: NBC has a livestream of the shuttle, which as of 8:45 a.m. is on the runway in D.C. Here's a map courtesy of the NY Post, showing where and when you can see it (NYC Aviation has one as well):
UPDATE: Check out photographs of the Enterprise flying over New York!
UPDATE II: The Shuttle landed at JFK, check out our photos from the scene right here.
