NEW YORK (AP) -- A piece of NASA history is the latest addition to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

The new Space Shuttle Pavilion featuring the Enterprise opens Thursday. Museum visitors will be able to walk underneath and around the Enterprise at the Intrepid, which is located on Pier 86 on Manhattan's West Side, at 46th Street and the Hudson River.

The space shuttle was NASA's first. It never actually went into space, but performed critical tests around the Earth's atmosphere in 1977.

Space experts credit the Enterprise with paving the way for future shuttles, like the Columbia in 1981.

The grand opening of the museum's Space Shuttle Pavilion will include special exhibitions and a concert.