Endeavour will be the only retired space shuttle to be displayed in liftoff position, highlighting the exhibitions in the new building when it opens to the public. The groundbreaking for the 20-story Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center occurred in the spring of 2022, and the building is expected to be completed in mid-2025. The Space Shuttle came to California in 2012, mounted atop a Boeing 747 that landed at LAX before completing a 12-mile journey across the streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center, where an estimated 18 million people have already visited the orbiter in a temporary display. He reports that the maneuver had to be executed when there was almost no wind, and at night “because once the sun comes up, you get the pressure difference in the atmosphere.” Participants in the project were joined by press and local residents who came out to watch, either from the ground or nearby rooftops. The team had also considered an approach that would involve backing the orbiter into the facility and then lifting it to the vertical position, but the option that they chose was considered safer while giving them more control, explains Kenneth Phillips, the California Science Center’s curator of aerospace science. The center's foundation has raised nearly US$350 million of the US$400 million goal for the project.California Science Center Breaks Ground on Future Home of Space Shuttle EndeavourĮndeavour’s move was carefully planned with help from NASA engineers. Construction of the Air and Space Center will be completed around the full shuttle stack. The shuttle will be moved across Exposition Park and lifted by a crane to be intricately mated to the external tank. 31 will be the last chance to see Endeavour as it has been displayed - horizontally in the landing position - for years since arrival at the California Science Center. When NASA's shuttles were retired, Endeavour was flown to California atop NASA's special Boeing 747 shuttle carrier in 2012, drawing crowds as it flew over locations in the state associated with the space program.Īfter landing at Los Angeles International Airport, the shuttle was placed on a special trailer and then created a sensation as it was inched through tight city streets to the California Science Center over several days.Ī groundbreaking ceremony for the Air and Space Center was held last year on the 11th anniversary of Endeavour's final return from space.ĭec. The 20-story-tall display will stand atop an 1,800-ton (1,633-metric ton) concrete slab supported by six so-called base isolators to protect Endeavour from earthquakes.Įndeavour was built as a replacement for the destroyed Space Shuttle Challenger and flew 25 missions between 19. Officials say it will be the first time the procedure has been done outside of a NASA facility. The segments, called aft skirts, had to be precisely positioned so that the entire assembly can be stacked properly. Workers used a crane to hoist the bottom segments of the boosters into the California Science Center's future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which is currently under construction in Exposition Park. A highly technical process began Thursday in Los Angeles to put NASA's retired Space Shuttle Endeavour on permanent display in the vertical launch position complete with external tank and two solid rocket boosters.
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