Space Shuttle Enterprise has the distinction of being the
only U.S. Space Shuttle never to fly in space. She was built to
perform test flights in the atmosphere, to pave the way for future
shuttle missions. She was never even capable of spaceflight, as
Enterprise had no engines or heat shield.
The Shuttles in the fleet were named Enterprise,
Columbia, Challenger, Discovery,
Atlantis, and Endeavor (and
we'll include the Russian Buran in the list as well).
Other ships to bear the name Enterprise were the CV-6
aircraft carrier (1938-1947), the CVN-65 aircraft carrier
(1961-current), the inaugural vessel of the Virgin Galactic
suborbital tourism fleet (2009-current), the XCV 330 (c 2130s), the
NX-01 (2151-2161), and the NCC-1701 (original and A-E; 2245-2387
and beyond).
