NASA 2011 budget and Ares-1

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:29:44 -0800, Pat Flannery
wrote:

"After flying missions on Columbia (STS-2) and Discovery (STS-51-I),
Engle reported that the flight and handling characteristics of the
operational orbiters were similar to Enterprise, except that he had to
fly a steeper profile with the prototype as it was much lighter than the
operational spacecraft."

I thought Enterprise was loaded with tons of ballast to offset that. I
wouldn't be surprised if the steeper profile wasn't simply because
Enterprise started slower/lower than would a return from orbit.

Brian