Space Shuttle Enterprise Leave Spectators in Awe After Flying Over Fort Lee and GWB

(Editor's note: New Milford was abuzz with talk of the space shuttle flying over Bergen County this morning and we thought we'd share these personal accounts from people who saw it.)

Duncan Browne was just a child when his late mother, Judy Browne awakened him at 2:00a.m. on July 20, 1969 to witness Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk off Apollo 11 and take the first human steps onto the moon's surface.  

For Browne, a Mahopac, New York resident, watching NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise fly over the George Washington Bridge (GWB) from Fort Lee Historic Park on Friday morning was simply unforgettable.

“This is the closest I’ve been and it’s just,” said Browne as he paused to sigh. He then made a connection between his love for space exploration and his country.

“That a country can build, not just one, but a fleet of these just makes me very proud,” he added. “You see people here, young and old people, some with professional cameras, and some with cell phones. It is truly a shared experience.”     

Fort Lee resident Arlene Rodriquez, a member of the Rotary Club of Fort Lee, also recognized the significance of the shuttle fly-over. The retired TD bank employee recalled a mural still hanging in the TD Bank on Lemoine Avenue, which illustrates a German war plane that was permitted to fly over the GWB before World War II.

“This is a piece of history. Especially now, we don’t know what they’re [NASA] doing with the space program, if we’ll ever go back into space,” said Rodriquez. “They want to cut costs. That’s something they should have never stopped because there’s so much to learn.”

The shuttle originally left from Washington D.C, and made a pass by the Statute of Liberty, and Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City before flying pass the GWB twice as it was piggybacked on top of a Boeing 747 with the NASA log clearly visible.   

Seventh grade student and Cliffside resident Hailey Santiago missed the first few hours of school to catch the live lesson in space aviation. Accompanied by her father, George Santiago, and her toddler sister, she was able to make the connection between the flyover and her recent trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“It was really interesting to see what goes on in space and what technology they [NASA] have these days,” said Santiago. “I thought I knew a lot, but I didn’t.”

The flyover was originally planned for Wednesday, but was moved to Friday due to a large region of low pressure on the East Coast.  

After passing Fort Lee going North towards the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Enterprise turned around and made a closer pass over the GWB, which triggered additional "oohs" and "ahhs" of exuberance from the crowd.

It came back up north again but turned short of Fort Lee en-route to John F. Kennedy International Airport for a welcome ceremony.

In the coming weeks, the Enterprise will be transported by barge to the Intrepid Museum, its final destination, where it will on display for the general public inside the future Space Shuttle Pavilion scheduled to open July 19.

The flyover was not the first for the Enterprise in the area. On June 10, 1983, the same shuttle left Scott Air Force Base in Illinois and made its way over parts of New York City and New Jersey after a world tour.

Michael Duzich, a teacher at Fort Lee's School 4 on Anderson Avenue, remembered seeing it as it as a student as it passed over his school at the time in West New York.

"I didn't even know it was going to fly over, said Duzich. "I just heard a loud noise, looked up, and realized it was the shuttle riding on top of a big plane. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen."

To see video of Enterprise flying over the George Washington Bridge, click here. 

Fast Enterprise Shuttle Facts

The Space Shuttle Enterprise, originally named the Constitution, was built in 1976, and was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built to perform test flights in the atmosphere, but was not capable of spaceflight. NASA credits the success of the space shuttle program with the testing of the Enterprise.

Trekkies, known as fans of Star Trek, a popular 1970’s television series, began a letter campaign that same year asking President Gerald Ford to have the shuttle name changed from Constitution to Enterprise after the Starship Enterprise, a military spacecraft featured on the television show. The name was changed after Ford made a request to NASA officials.

The Enterprise has been stored at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum where it has been the centerpiece of the space collection before coming to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.

For more information go to: http://www.nasa.gov/ and http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/