On February 18th, 1977, the Space Shuttle Enterprise made its maiden "flight"! During this flight, Enterprise was atop a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft so NASA could measure structural loads and ground handling and braking characteristics of the mated system. This mated combination of the Enterprise and SCA was then subjected to five test flights with Enterprise uncrewed and unactivitated. These tests were followed by three test flights with Enterprise crewed to test the shuttle flight control systems. It wasn't until August 12th, 1977 when Enterprise flew on its own for the first time. Space Shuttle Enterprise was only ever used for test purposes, and is now housed at the Intrepid Museum in New York City.
