Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!dali.cs.montana.edu!caen!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!kksys!wd0gol!newave!john
From: john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Space Shuttle Enterprise
Message-ID: <779@newave.UUCP>
Date: 25 Apr 91 22:50:34 GMT
References: <1991Apr20.161545.14633@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> <1198@sppy00.UUCP> <1648@vtserf.cc.vt.edu> <2814A667.538E@ibma0.cs.uiuc.edu> <1991Apr25.140350.3543@waikato.ac.nz>
Reply-To: john@newave.mn.org (John A. Weeks III)
Organization: NeWave Communications Ltd, Eden Prairie, MN
Lines: 35

In <1991Apr25.140350.3543@waikato.ac.nz> pjs1@waikato.ac.nz writes:
>In <2814A667.538E@ibma0.cs.uiuc.edu>, noe@sunc4.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
> > Can someone confirm this?  Is OV-100 Pathfinder?
> > OV-099 Challenger
> > OV-101 Enterprise

> I have always assumed that Challenger was OV-101 and have never heard
> of the Enterprise. As it never flew would I be correct in thinking that
> something was wrong with it's body and hence it's inards were used to make
> the challenger?

Enterprise was supposed to be a flying bird.  After the drop tests, it 
was decided that Enterprise was overwieght and it would take too much
work to refit it for flight.  Columbia then became the first shuttle to
be flight ready since it was next in line.  Challenger actually started
life as a test frame.  It was decided to refit it for flight when they
decided not to refit Enterprise.  Challenger retained the OV number
of the test frame, OV-99.

I don't know if Pathfinder was ever officially issued an OV number.
All of my books are in storage, so I cannot look it up 8-(.

> On a similar subject, we (New Zealand) are about to see THE CHALLENGER
> (the movie), is it any good and how accurate/factual is it.

It received good new.reviews because of all of the shuttle processing
footage.  The story was a bit hokey, but everyone seemed to like the scene
were the engineers were trying to stop the flight.

-john-

-- 
=============================================================================
John A. Weeks III               (612) 942-6969             john@newave.mn.org
NeWave Communications                       ...uunet!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john