in february 1977, the ov-101 test vehicle began glide tests. ov-101 was christened space shuttle "enterprise" after a concerted letter-writing campaign by "star trek" fans. like the shuttlecraft of "star trek: the original series", the space shuttle orbiters were used interchangeably to carry crew, cargo or exploration payloads. in orbital missions from 1981 to 2011, the space shuttle became symbolic of humanity's reach into space.