Original Space Shuttle Mock-Up Moves Through Downey for Restoration
Excerpt: It never went into space, but a full-size original space shuttle design prototype built in 1972 as part of Rockwell International's ultimately successful bid to build NASA's shuttles is in a renovation facility Friday in Downey and being prepared for display at a new exhibit at the Columbia Memorial Space Center.
The mock-up, measuring 122 feet long and 35 feet tall, was constructed as a prototype for the future shuttles, thus it stands as the first shuttle ever built, although it never left the Earth. As a full-scale model, the mock- up was later used as a fitting tool for instruments and payloads that were being planned for the actual NASA shuttles.
In 2012, it was affectionately given the name "Inspiration," as the original design model for the space shuttle program.