Space Shuttle Enterprise damaged by Sandy as it weathered storm on the deck of an aircraft carrier

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 08:23 EST, 4 November 2012 | UPDATED: 08:39 EST, 4 November 2012

The Space Shuttle Enterprise, housed on the deck of an aircraft carrier in New York City, was damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

The shuttle prototype sustained minor damage to its vertical stabilizer, or tail. A small piece of foam came off, said a spokesman for the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

The damage was confirmed Friday by both the museum and NASA. At the same time, shuttle Atlantis concluded its journey to retirement at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

Damage: The Space shuttle Enterprise can clearly be seen here with a large chunk missing from its tail -- damage it sustained in the storm

Weathered the storm: The Enterprise is housed on the deck of the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier that sits in the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan

Enterprise will be repaired at the earliest opportunity, the Intrepid museum said in a statement. The museum remains closed because of storm damage.

'Enterprise remains safely in place and partially covered by the fabric of the damaged pavilion, which was left in place as a protective measure,' said museum director Susan Marenoff-Zausner.

Enterprise was used for atmospheric drop tests over Edwards Air Force Base in California in 1977, four years before the first shuttle launch. It was never designed for space travel.

This past spring, the Smithsonian Institution turned the Enterprise over to the Intrepid, at NASA's instruction. The Smithsonian needed to make room at its display hangar in Virginia for the retired space shuttle Discovery.

Flooded: The area around the pier that houses the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum flooded Monday night as a result of the storm surge

Enterprise was flown atop a modified jumbo jet to New York in April and moved to the Intrepid museum in June. 

The shuttle's new home is the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier that is docked in the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan.

The museum's welcome center was also damaged in the storm and the museum remains closed until repairs can be made.

Collapse: The storm knocked down the protective pavilion that surrounded the Enterprise

Damage estimates from the storm, which at one point knocked out power to seven percent of the nation, total $50billion.

Electricity has largely been restored in Manhattan, though hard-hit neighborhoods in the outer boroughs, like Red Hook, Brooklyn and much of Staten Island, remain without power.

The death toll now stands at 110 -- with most of the deaths in New York state.