New York ( CNN ) -- The Space Shuttle Enterprise made its final descent Wednesday , landing at its new home at New York City 's Intrepid Sea , Air and Space Museum . Though it never traveled into outer space , the Enterprise did make its way from a Smithsonian Institution museum near Washington , above the New York skyline mounted atop a 747 jumbo jet , and up the Hudson River by barge to the museum where it will be displayed for the public . On Wednesday , the shuttle was hoisted by crane and then lowered onto the flight deck of the Intrepid , the decommissioned U.S. aircraft carrier that has been transformed into a museum . Dragon returns to Earth after 'grand slam ' mission . As the shuttle moved through the waterways of Lower Manhattan , it made an appearance near the Statue of Liberty . A wingtip of the shuttle was damaged slightly on Sunday during its transit from John F. Kennedy Airport to Weeks Marine in Jersey City , New Jersey , where it was held until Tuesday , according to a statement by Intrepid museum officials . It has since been repaired . The shuttle was on display at a Smithsonian Institution museum before being flown from Virginia 's Dulles International Airport on April 27 and making its final flight to New York 's John F. Kennedy Airport . Discovery -- the most traveled of the shuttles -- is replacing Enterprise in the Smithsonian facility . Completed in 1976 , Enterprise was designed as a prototype test vehicle . Test pilots demonstrated that it could fly and land in the atmosphere like airplanes , but the Enterprise never flew in space . The shuttle was originally to be named the Constitution , but a write-in campaign by fans of the television series `` Star Trek '' persuaded officials to rename it in honor of the show 's main starship . NASA sent the shuttle on a tour of Europe and Canada in 1983 , and it appeared at the 1984 World 's Fair in New Orleans . The craft made a brief return to service as a ground test vehicle in 1984 before retiring to the Smithsonian 's collection in 1985 . NASA is preparing to fly Space Shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles sometime in the second half of the year . The final remaining shuttle , Atlantis , is being readied for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida . The other two shuttles in the NASA program , Challenger and Columbia , were destroyed in flight .
Space Shuttle Enterprise is hoisted by crane into its new home . It will be on display at New York 's Intrepid Sea , Air and Space Museum . The Enterprise was a training vehicle ; it never flew in space .