King Charles' Encounter with NASA's Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1977.
In 1977, King Charles III met NASA's first space shuttle, Enterprise, and its four-astronaut crew at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California after the shuttle completed its fifth and final "free flight" in Earth's atmosphere. Enterprise was built to test the shuttle's design on test flights in Earth's atmosphere. The vehicle didn't have a functional heat shield or engines; it was carried aloft by NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, then dropped at altitude. Charles received a commemorative photo album and an original watercolor by space artist Robert McCall from NASA.