posted 10-08-2012 03:18 PM               

Space shuttle Endeavour to leave on road trip this week

As it turns out, transporting a space shuttle through city streets is a "Big Endeavour."

Space shuttle Endeavour, the youngest of NASA's retired orbiters, will depart later this week on a road trip from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to its new exhibition at the California Science Center (CSC). The two day, 12 mile (19 kilometer) journey follows Endeavour's delivery to L.A. atop a jumbo jet last month.

The move, which will begin hours before dawn on Friday morning (Oct. 12) and end after nightfall the next day has been dubbed as "Mission 26: The Big Endeavour." While it was in service to NASA, Endeavour flew 25 missions to space between 1992 and 2011.

posted 10-12-2012 05:04 AM               

Shuttle Endeavour embarks on Los Angeles road trip

Space shuttle Endeavour has hit the road.

The black and white winged orbiter, which is the youngest in NASA's now retired fleet, left Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) atop a self-propelled, overland transporter in the early morning hours on Friday (Oct. 12). The motion signaled the start of a 2-day road trip to deliver Endeavour to its new exhibit at the California Science Center (CSC).

posted 10-12-2012 12:27 PM               

Photo gallery: On the road with space shuttle Endeavour

Space shuttle Endeavour, which launched to orbit 25 times, has embarked on "Mission 26," a two-day, 12-mile (19-kilometer) road trip to the California Science Center (CSC) for display.

posted 10-12-2012 11:47 PM               

My reaction was that it appeared so much less dignified than Enterprise arriving at Carrier Intrepid amid showers of fire boats.

One media comment was that she was on her way to her final resting place. It feels to me more like a funeral procession.

posted 10-13-2012 02:32 AM               

Space shuttle Endeavour towed over L.A. freeway by Toyota truck

Why did the space shuttle cross the road? To get to the other side... of the 405.

Or at least, that was the case for the shuttle Endeavour, which over night Friday (Oct. 12) was towed by a Toyota Tundra truck over the Los Angeles freeway to complete its first day on its trip to the California Science Center (CSC) for display.

posted 10-16-2012 10:29 AM               

Shuttle Endeavour arrives at its new L.A. museum home

Space shuttle Endeavour has come to its final stop — finally.

The iconic black and white orbiter, which flew 25 times to space over the past two decades, arrived at the California Science Center (CSC) Sunday afternoon (Oct. 14) where it will begin its new mission as a museum exhibit.

It had been scheduled to pull up at the CSC on Saturday night, but natural and utility obstacles, as well as the need for maintenance of its transporters, slowed the pace of the shuttle's parade and delayed it arrival by a day.

Not that many of the spectators who came out to see the shuttle roll by seemed to mind...

posted 10-16-2012 10:31 AM               

Shuttle Endeavour's L.A. adventure captured in photos

The final journey of space shuttle Endeavour may have been its shortest mission, but it also is very likely its most documented. Millions of spectators not only were there to see Endeavour's road trip through Los Angeles, but also photograph it with just about every image recording device imaginable, from cell phone to Hollywood 3D camera.

To capture this not just once in a lifetime, but "once" event, collectSPACE presents a photo gallery or more than 150 images showing Endeavour from the start to finish of its three-day, 12-mile "Mission 26."

posted 11-16-2012 04:24 PM               

The Red Horse Racing No. 11 Tundra, driven by Todd Bodine, features a Toyota Tundra Endeavour Project paint scheme today at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

A 2012 Tundra Crewmax pickup recently towed the 170,000-pound space shuttle Endeavour and its custom tow dolly across a Los Angeles freeway bridge en route to the California Science Center, where the shuttle was placed on permanent display on October 13, 2012.