Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

NASA flew two modified Boeing 747 jetliners, 

originally manufactured for commercial use, as 

Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. One is a 747-123 

model, while the other was designated a 747-

100SR-46 model. The two aircraft were identical 

in performance as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).

The 747 series of aircraft are four-engine intercontinental-range, swept-wing "jumbo jets" that 

entered commercial service in 1969.

The SCAs were used to ferry space shuttle orbiters from landing sites back to the launch complex at the Kennedy Space Center and also to 

and from other locations too distant for the orbiters to be delivered by ground transportation. The 

orbiters were placed atop the SCAs by MateDemate Devices, large gantry-like structures that 

hoisted the orbiters off the ground for post-flight 

servicing and then mated them with the SCAs for 

ferry flights.

Features that distinguish the two SCAs from standard 747 jetliners are:

•	 Three struts with associated interior structural

strengthening protrude from the top of the 

fuselage (two aft, one forward) on which the 

orbiter is attached.

•	 Two additional vertical stabilizers, one on 		

	 each end of the standard horizontal stabilizer,

to enhance directional stability.

•	 Removal of all interior furnishings and equipment aft of the forward No. 1 doors.

•	 Instrumentation used by SCA flight crews 	

and engineers to monitor orbiter electrical 

loads during the ferry flights and also during 

pre- and post-ferry flight operations.

The two SCAs were owned and under the operational control of NASA's Johnson Space Center, 

Houston.

NASA 905 was the first SCA. It was obtained from

American Airlines in 1974. Shortly after acceptance 

by NASA, the SCA flew a series of wake vortex 

research flights at the Dryden (now Armstrong) 

Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., in a study 

to seek ways of reducing turbulence produced by 

large aircraft. Pilots flying as much as several miles 

behind large aircraft have encountered wake turbulence that has caused control problems. The NASA 

study helped the Federal Aviation Administration 

modify flight procedures for commercial aircraft 

during airport approaches and departures.

Following the wake vortex studies, NASA 905 was 

modified by Boeing to its present SCA configuration 

and the aircraft was returned to Dryden for its role 

in the 1977 Space Shuttle Approach and Landing 

Tests (ALT). This series of eight captive and five 

free flights with the orbiter prototype Enterprise, in 

addition to ground taxi tests, validated the aircraft's 

performance as an SCA, in addition to verifying the 

glide and landing characteristics of the orbiter configuration — paving the way for orbital flights.

A flight crew escape system, consisting of an exit 

tunnel extending from the flight deck to a hatch 

in the bottom of the fuselage, was installed during 

the modifications. The system also included pyrotechnics to activate the hatch release and cabin 

NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905 flies low over Edwards Air Force Base on its final ferry flight, carrying 

the space shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2012.
FS-2014-09-013 AFRC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Armstrong Flight Research Center

P.O. Box 273

Edwards, California 93523

NASA Facts

window release mechanisms. The flight crew escape system 

was removed from the NASA 905 following the successful 

completion of the ALT program.

NASA 905, a Boeing 747-123 model built in 1970, was the first 

and only SCA used by the space shuttle program until November 1990, when NASA 911 was delivered as an SCA. Along 

with ferrying Enterprise and the flight-rated shuttle orbiters 

between the launch and landing sites and other locations, NASA 

905 also ferried Enterprise to Europe for display in England and 

at the Paris Air Show and the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans. 

NASA 905 flew 70 of the 87 ferry missions during the operational phase of the shuttle program, including 46 of the 54 postmission ferry flights from Dryden to the Kennedy Space Center. 

After the orbiters were retired, NASA 905 flew three ferry 

missions to deliver the shuttles Discovery, Enterprise, and Endeavour to museums where they are currently on display. Upon 

its retirement in late 2012, it had flown 11,018 flight hours over 

42 years, both as a commercial jetliner and as a NASA space 

shuttle carrier, and had made 6,335 takeoffs and landings. It

is being incorporated into a historical and educational exhibit 

at Space Center Houston, the Johnson Space Center's visitor 

center. The exhibit is scheduled to open in 2015.

NASA 911 was the second SCA, a Boeing 747-100SR-46 version. 

It was built in 1973 and entered service with JapanAir Lines. The

aircraft was obtained by NASA from the airline in 1989, modified 

by The Boeing Co. in the shuttle carrier aircraft configuration, and 

delivered to NASA on Nov. 20, 1990. Upon its retirement on Feb. 

8, 2012, it had amassed 33,004 flight hours over its 38-year flight 

career, including 386 flights as a NASA shuttle carrier aircraft, 

66 of which were flights with a space shuttle mounted atop the 

fuselage. It flew 17 of the post-shuttle-landing ferry flights from

Edwards to Kennedy. NASA 911 is currently on public display at 

the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale, California, under a 

long-term loan agreement with NASA. 

SCA Statistics

Dimensions:

•	 Wingspan: 195 ft. 8 in.

•	 Length: 231 ft. 10 in.

•	 Height: Top of vertical stabilizer, 63 ft. 5 in. To top of 	 	

cockpit area, 32 ft. 1 in.

•	 Vertical tip fins on horizontal stabilizers: 20 ft. 10 in. 	 	

high, 9 ft. 7 in. long.

•	 Weight: Basic weight, NASA 905, 318,053 lbs. NASA 	 	

911, 323,034 lbs. 

•	 Maximum gross taxi weight, 713,000 lbs

•	 Maximum gross brake release weight, 710,000 lbs

•	 Maximum gross landing weight, 600,000 lbs

Engines: Four Pratt and Whitney JT9D-7J turbofan engines, 

each producing 48,600 lbs. of thrust.

Performance:

•	 Airspeed limits with or without an orbiter: 250 knots or 	 	

Mach 0.6

•	 Altitude: Typical cruise with orbiter, 13,000-15,000 ft; 	 	

typical cruise unmated, 24,000-26,000 ft.

•	 Minimum temperature at altitude 15 degrees (F) (-9 de-	 	

grees C) when carrying shuttle

•	 Range: Mated, 1,000 nautical miles (with reserves); 	 	

maximum unmated, 5,500 nautical miles

Fuel Capacity: 47,210 gallons (316,307 lbs) jet fuel

Crew: Two pilots and one flight engineer; additional flight

engineer when carrying shuttle. 

NASA's two modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905 (front) and 911 (rear) were captured by photographer Carla Thomas 

as they flew in formation over the Southern California high desert in the Edwards Air Force Base Test Range.