Space shuttle Enterprise takes a tour of New York City

Space shuttle Enterprise takes a tour of New York City:

Robert Markowitz / Getty Images via NASA

The space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies near the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline, April 27, in New York City. Enterprise was the first shuttle orbiter built for NASA performing test flights in the atmosphere and was incapable of spaceflight. Originally housed at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Enterprise will be demated from the SCA and placed on a barge that will eventually be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

The Space Shuttle Enterprise rides atop a NASA modified 747 plane over New York on April 27. The Space Shuttle Enterprise officially arrived in New York to be placed at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Andrew Gombert / EPA

Visitors a the top of Rockefeller Center watch the Space Shuttle Enterprise, attached to a modified 747, as it flies over New York City before landing at John F Kennedy airport and eventually its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, New York, New York , USA, on April 27.

Reuters reports -- The space shuttle Enterprise took off on Friday from Washington piggybacked atop a Boeing 747 bound for New York, where it was set to make a dramatic flight along the Hudson River past the Statue of Liberty.
The United States retired its space shuttles last year after finishing construction of the $100 billion International Space Station, a 15-nation project, to begin work on a new generation of spaceships that can carry astronauts to destinations beyond the station's 240-mile-high orbit.
NASA has been flying the shuttles to cities around the nation for display.
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Related story: Space shuttle Enterprise takes off atop New York-bound jet

Julio Cortez / AP

Space shuttle Enterprise, riding on the back of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, cruises over the New York City skyline as it makes its way to John F. Kennedy International Airport, seen from Union City, N.J., Friday, April 27, 2012. Enterprise is expected to go on display at the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum in New York.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

The Space Shuttle Enterprise rides atop a NASA modified 747 plane over New York on April 27. The Space Shuttle Enterprise officially arrived in New York to be placed at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Mary Altaffer / AP

People watch from the balcony of a building as the space shuttle Enterprise, riding on the back of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, cruises over the Hudson river, Friday, April 27, 2012 in New York. Enterprise is eventually going to make its new home in New York City at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

Riding atop a 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, the space shuttle Enterprise flies past the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor on April 27, in New York City. Enterprise, which was flown from Washington, DC, will eventually be put on permanent display at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

The space shuttle Enterprise left Dulles International Airport and arrived in New York this morning. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

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