I've been told several times when discussing ships named Enterprise that Roddenberry hated the test orbiter being named Enterprise. This can't be true, can it?
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12Yes, it can be true. No idea whether it is or not, but it can be.– Paul D. WaiteMar 1, 2018 at 10:47
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According to his wife he was very appreciative - "JP: I'm sure that he felt very proud and honored with the ground swell of public opinion that resulted in NASA agreeing to name the first Shuttle the "Enterprise." MBR: *And extremely shocked. And very, very surprised and very appreciative. What an honor. - astrodigital.org/space/intmajel.html– ValorumMar 1, 2018 at 13:31
1 Answer
As pointed out by @Valorum in the original comments:
While not directly from Roddenberry, this was presented in an interview with Majel Barret Roddenberry (interview at this link):
JP: I also understand that Gene was quite a supporter of the space program.
MBR: Oh my yes.
Followed a question later by:
JP: I'm sure that he felt very proud and honored with the ground swell of public opinion that resulted in NASA agreeing to name the first Shuttle the "Enterprise."
MBR: And extremely shocked. And very, very surprised and very appreciative. What an honor.
And as shown in the below photo and in the photo on space.com, he went to the unveiling (Roddenberry is to the right, between Nimoy and Koenig).
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