This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
Shuttle News

Endeavour Reaches Its New L.A. Home

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
October 15, 2012
Filed under , , ,

After glitches and delays, Endeavour finally reaches its new home
“It was built for orbital speeds approaching five miles per second, but space shuttle Endeavour took its own sweet time Sunday as it wheeled triumphantly onto the grounds of its new home, the California Science Center. “Mission 26 — mission accomplished,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced, amid the cheers of thousands of spectators. Before it was retired by NASA, the spacecraft had logged 25 flight missions. However, its final journey was slowed by unexpected maintenance issues and last-minute maneuvers to avoid obstacles like trees and utility poles. Ultimately, the 85-ton orbiter survived the trip with nary a scratch.”
Photo: Endeavour Makes Its Final Journey
“Cable technicians raise their cherry pickers watch and photograph the space shuttle Endeavour as it is maneuvered through the streets of Inglewood, Calif., on its way to its new home at the California Science Center, on Oct. 13, 2012.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

7 responses to “Endeavour Reaches Its New L.A. Home”

  1. James Lundblad says:
    0
    0

    Surreal photo gallery from LA Times. Did they get it there without any damage?

  2. Fred says:
    0
    0

    fred haka’nson.why wasnt at least one shuttle left at space station?                     could have been used towtruck inspace construction or hundreds of task .even escape viecule

    • Yohan Ayhan says:
      0
      0

      This question has already been asked and answered. In short, no extra docking port available to keep the orbiter attached, no way to refuel the orbiter, and the space station was not designed to handle the orbiter attached for long durations which can lead to thermal and structural instabilities for ISS.

    • Paul451 says:
      0
      0

      The shuttle orbiters weren’t designed to be kept on-station (or on station, for that matter 🙂 for longer than a few weeks.

      Leaked like a sieve. Systems couldn’t be shut down while in orbit, ie, had no stand-by or sleep mode. Heat shield was uncovered, so it was particularly prone to micro-meteorite damage.

      As for using it as a space-tug. It massed over 100 tonnes, before fuel, crew, life-support consumables, or cargo. That’s a lot of dead mass to push around, chasing after satellites. And, again due to its fragility, you couldn’t really throw it at “utility” jobs anyway, there was too high a risk of damage and loss of vehicle.

      The orbiters were originally meant to be reliable old space-freighters,  but turned out to be finicky formula 1 racing cars. All the engineering at the limits of construction, everything on the very edge of not functioning, having to be nursed and coddled to keep it running. The second or third generation orbiters might have been more robust (and cheaper), as technology and engineering caught up with that original ambition, but we were never given the chance to find out, NASA instead frittering off after the next shiny thing every few years.

      Unfortunately, we’re a long way from being able to do what we space-advocates want to be able to do with space hardware… “Hmmm, if you cut this off, weld that on, change that around, you’d be able to reuse it as an X”.

  3. Fred says:
    0
    0

    was my comment excepted

  4. George says:
    0
    0

    My son and I traveled from Virginia to experience Endeavour close up.  We saw her for almost 8 hours on Friday, from all sides, front and back.  It was a tremendous experience that we shared with people from every part of the human spectrum.  Tall, small, poor, white, black, hispanic, old, young, in between, in wheelchairs and walking.  We were all one in awe and reverence of a vehicle that had been in space 25 times.

    I have had the pleasure of meeting 17 different people that flew in her and have even more respect for all that took the risks required to do the work required of them.  Seeing the “burned” surfaces and wear and tear on her nose was amazing.

    I am sure that some very large number of people (maybe millions) were able to see her up close during the 60 hours transit across part of Los Angeles.  She went through a couple of neighborhoods that can easily be described as “sketchy” at best.  The most telling thing I read in the Los Angeles Times on Monday morning was that the LA police reported no arrests during the “parade.” That is not the “normal” Los Angeles weekend!

    I am glad that the Cessna Driver was also able to share some of the moment.  It will never happen again. For those of you old enough to remember – it was no doubt better than an “E” ticket ride at Disneyland!

  5. George says:
    0
    0

    Well said sir!  I had not thought of the US coming back from a “bloody” nose with this vehicle.  

    My son that traveled with me to see Endeavour was born the day after Challenger broke apart.  He has always had a special feeling for the Shuttle fleet.  Sort of personal to read the headlines on the newspaper from the day you were born.