Space Shuttle Fly Over Delayed by Weather

MANHATTAN ? The voyages of the space shuttle Enterprise will have to wait for another day.

The space shuttle Enterprise was set to boldly go to Manhattan on Monday, with a morning flyover taking it past some of the city's iconic landmarks, but the trip has been "postponed until further notice due to unfavorable weather forecast," NASA said.

"To ensure a safe flight for Enterprise and the [Shuttle Carrier Aircraft], NASA managers, in consultation with the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, decided Friday to delay the flight because of inclement weather predicted in both New York and Washington, where the flight will originate," according to a statement from officials.

The forecast for Monday calls for rain and a high of 59 degrees.

The agency has yet to determine a rain date for the shuttle's grand flight to New York.

Mounted on the back of a specially-outfitted Boeing 747, the Enterprise was originally set to fly from Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport to John F. Kennedy Airport.

The prototype shuttle, which never flew in space and was used largely for test flights within earth's atmosphere, will eventually find a permanent home at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space museum.? The Enterprise is one of four shuttles being sent to various museums across the country. Three others that did make it to the final frontier will be housed in Florida, Los Angeles, and Virginia.

D.C. residents were treated to their own space show earlier this week, when the same 747 flew the shuttle Discovery to its new home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum' Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, passing by spectators on the National Mall and flying past the Washington Monument.

It was unclear if this will delay the Enterprise's trip to its final destination. The shuttle will stay at JFK for a few months before it finally makes its way to Hell's Kitchen. Later in the summer, the shuttle will be placed on a barge that will be moved by tugboat up the Hudson to the Intrepid Museum.

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