Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905 (front) and 911 (back) flying in formation in 2011
General information
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Boeing
Owners	905: American Airlines (1970–1974) NASA (1974–2011) 911: Japan Airlines (1973–1988) NASA (1988–2011)
Number built	2
Registration	N905NA[1], N911NA[2]
Aircraft carried	Space Shuttle, Phantom Ray
History
Retired	2012
Developed from	905: Boeing 747-100 911: Boeing 747-100SR
Preserved at	905: Space Center Houston 911: Joe Davies Heritage Airpark
Fate	Both aircraft preserved

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. One (N905NA) is a 747-100 model, while the other (N911NA) is a short-range 747-100SR. Both are now retired.

The SCAs were used to ferry Space Shuttles from landing sites back to the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. The orbiters were placed on top of the SCAs by Mate-Demate Devices, large gantry-like structures that hoisted the orbiters off the ground for post-flight servicing then mated them with the SCAs for ferry flights.

In approach and landing test flights conducted in 1977, the test shuttle Enterprise was released from an SCA during flight and glided to a landing under its own control.^[3]