posted 04-12-2011 07:38 PM               

Editor's note: This topic is intended for updates and discussion about space shuttle Endeavour's display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

posted 04-12-2011 07:40 PM               

California Science Center Selected To Receive Space Shuttle Endeavour

NASA Administrator General Charles Bolden announced today that the California Science Center is one of four institutions chosen to receive a Space Shuttle Orbiter for permanent display. The announcement came during a ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida marking the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch.

"We are thrilled with the distinguished honor of being awarded the flown Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to NASA Administrator General Bolden and all of those at NASA who have demonstrated their confidence in the California Science Center and recognize the importance of returning the Endeavour to its home in California," notes Science Center President Jeffrey N. Rudolph. "The Endeavour will provide an educational platform for the public to celebrate California's long time leadership in science, technology, mathematics and engineering. We are confident that it will serve to motivate and inspire millions of young people to dream about possibilities and will attract and engage the next generation of California's and our nation's workforce in these fields."

The California Science Center has a gallery dedicated to air and space artifacts and the addition of the Space Shuttle supports the goals of its 25-year Master Plan, which includes building an entirely new gallery devoted to aeronautics and space exploration.

The Science Center's proposal to NASA included the support of federal, state, city and county leaders, including Governor Jerry Brown, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, former Congresswoman Diane Watson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the California Congressional Delegation, State Senator Curren Price, Assembly Member Mike Davis, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Bernard Parks and the Los Angeles City Council, and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

The Science Center welcomes 1.4 million guests annually.

About the California Science Center

The Science Center's mission is as follows: "We aspire to stimulate curiosity and inspire science learning in everyone by creating fun, memorable experiences, because we value science as an indispensable tool for understanding our world, accessibility and inclusiveness, and enriching people's lives."

posted 04-20-2011 01:00 PM               

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What day is the shuttle coming to the Science Center?

After Endeavour’s final mission, it will take some time for NASA to decommission it for display and transport it to Los Angeles. We are beginning immediately to work with NASA on logistics and schedule and will share schedule information as it is finalized.

Will I have to pay to see the shuttle?

Currently the Science Center does not charge general admission and there is no plan at this time to charge to view the Endeavour.

Will I be able to sit inside the shuttle?

Short answer: No.

Explanation: The Shuttle is a priceless gift to the people of California and Los Angeles and the California Science Center plans to maintain the highest standards of conservation to protect Endeavour. To preserve the vehicle for future generations it is not possible to access or make physical contact with the vehicle. However, the Science Center is exploring display configurations that will permit guests to get as close to Endeavour as possible and to examine the Orbiter from different perspectives and elevations.

Why was the Science Center picked to keep the shuttle?

We believe that we best met NASA’s criteria. We are dedicated to science learning and education and have an international reputation for high quality exhibits. Studies show that the Science Center is very effective at fulfilling its mission. California has a strong historic connection to the shuttles, as all of the orbiters were built in southern California.

Will there be an event with the astronauts so we can ask questions about their adventures on the shuttle?

We do not currently have any events scheduled. We will post information on our website and email it to our members and email list.

posted 05-23-2011 07:32 AM               

Plans are underway to bring the Endeavour to Los Angeles and build a new Air and Space Center, which has always been a major component of the California Science Center's 25-year Master Plan. With the Endeavour as its central experience, the new Air and Space Center will be one of the most significant air and space education facilities in the world.

posted 06-29-2011 02:25 PM               

When the California Science Center was recently awarded the Space Shuttle Endeavour by NASA, the news generated heightened interest in our current Air and Space exhibits. In response, we are giving the exhibits greater visibility and accessibility by moving them to our main building. The move also allows the Science Center to save operating costs.

The SKETCH Foundation Gallery is now closed. Look for the Air and Space exhibits in Science Court on the 2nd floor later this summer.

posted 08-27-2011 11:33 PM               

I thought I would post excerpts from that report here for those who would not have read the report or made it to the final few pages.

NASA selected the Science Center to receive Endeavour.

NASA began after-mission processing and "safing" preparation activities on Endeavour in June 2011 after the Orbiter returned from its final mission. NASA plans to complete the processing activities required for display by May 2012, and store Endeavour in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building until June 2012, when the Orbiter will be ferried from Kennedy to Los Angeles International Airport on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

The Science Center may use a refurbished "overland transporter" to move Endeavour by road about 15 miles to a temporary display facility adjacent to the Science Center. Endeavour will be displayed at the temporary facility until the permanent facility is completed in 2016.

In the permanent facility, the Science Center plans to display Endeavour in a vertical position as if on a launch pad. However, Endeavour will be displayed in the temporary facility in a horizontal position.

The Science Center submitted its logistics plan to NASA in May 2011, including details on how it plans to transport the Orbiter from the airport to its temporary display facility. The exhibit and finance plans are due in August 2011. NASA completed a formal site visit in August 2011. Title transfer will occur and initial funding will be due in October 2011. Display preparation is scheduled to begin in January 2012.

posted 09-26-2011 10:02 PM               

Steve Soboroff Selected as Senior Advisor for California Science Center's Space Shuttle Endeavour Project

Business and community leader Steve Soboroff has been selected by the California Science Center Foundation as senior advisor for its project to transport and permanently exhibit the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour in Los Angeles.

Officials of the California Science Center, located in Exposition Park near downtown, asked for Soboroff's involvement soon after it was formally awarded the Endeavour, considered one of America's national treasures, over 20 other applicants nationally.

In a joint statement, California Science Center's President Jeffrey Rudolph and Foundation Board Chair Tom Soto said, "We are excited about the task of bringing Endeavour home to California, since it will provide an educational platform for the public to celebrate our State's long time leadership in science, technology, mathematics and engineering. We are confident that it will attract and engage the next generation of California's and our nation's workforce in these fields.

"It's a monumental project, and Steve Soboroff, with his vast experience in stewarding into existence some of the most exceptional projects in our city, will make a great senior advisor. We are delighted to have his expertise, passion and energy to guide us in building awareness and engaging others to ensure the success of this major undertaking."

Soboroff, whose imprint is all over major Los Angeles projects including Staples Center, city parks and schools, the Expo Center, Playa Vista and the Alameda Corridor, said "I like to help make good things happen in Los Angeles. What Staples Center did for downtown is what the Endeavour promises do for the Exposition Park area, downtown, and all of Southern California. It will bring millions of visitors to Los Angeles and serve as a no-cost educational and science experience for the school kids of our region."

Endeavour, a $1.7 billion spaceship that flew 25 missions, and was developed and built in Southern California 20 years ago, completed its last voyage into space this past summer. It will be flown to LAX on top of a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft after being prepared for exhibition at the Kennedy Space Center which includes removal of hazardous materials.

Soboroff added, "The planning and logistics for transporting Endeavour from LAX to the California Science Center are nothing short of remarkable."

posted 09-30-2011 02:52 PM               

EndeavourLA Launch: A social media opportunity!

Our Twitter followers and Facebook fans are invited to register for a chance to attend the upcoming EndeavourLA Launch event! The California Science Center will host 50 social media guests as part of a celebration of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on October 11, 2011.

The private event will feature a title transfer-signing of Endeavour from NASA to the California Science Center Foundation, along with an appearance from NASA’s STS-134 crew and Commander Mark Kelly. The EndeavourLA Launch event will herald Endeavour's symbolic homecoming to the state where it was developed and built 20 years ago. The event is open only to working media, California Science Center members and donors, Science Center School students, and 50 social media guests.

Our social media guests will be able to attend the celebration and receive reserved seating, one free IMAX ticket, and keepsake items. Registration for the chance to attend will begin at 10:00 a.m. PST on Monday, Oct. 3, 2011 and end at 5:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. Guests will be randomly selected from the registrants.

posted 10-11-2011 12:23 PM            

Mike Fincke: We're here to give the title to the California Science Center. Mark Kelly said it best when we landed. He said the mission of Endeavour isn't over. It's going to inspire new generations of explorers and this is a beautiful place not too far from where Endeavour was born, right here on the West Coast, to inspire students. It was built in Palmdale, at Rockwell, and Downey.

Q: I want to get your views on the space shuttle selection process. Did any of you think Houston should've gotten a space shuttle?

Johnson: Of course. Trouble is, there's not enough space shuttles to go around. I know there's a lot of logic going into the thinking. We have a bunch of smart people. The space shuttle was born here in California. There's a population center here in California.

Fincke: This is a bastion of aerospace.

Johnson: So it's a great choice. Did Houston want to have a shuttle? Of course they did. But there were a lot of other places that wanted a space shuttle as well.

posted 10-17-2011 04:48 AM               

Space shuttle pink slip in hand, LA planning 'mother of all parades' for Endeavour

Space shuttle Endeavour's transfer from NASA to the California Science Center for its public display was signed and sealed Tuesday (Oct. 11). Now all that remains for the retired orbiter is for it to be delivered — a feat local leaders promise will be as large a spectacle as it is a challenge.

"This is going to be a big, big event and a big, big object, and it is going to be a lot of work to get it but we couldn't be prouder," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at the title transfer ceremony held at the science center.

Using, appropriately enough, pressurized space pens to sign oversized title certificates, NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator Richard Keegan and the California Science Center's (CSC) President Jeffrey Rudolph signed over and accepted the orbiter.

"The transfer of Endeavour, now done, from NASA to the California Science Center doesn't commemorate the end of Endeavour's work but the start of its next mission," Rudolph said. "We're committed to be excellent stewards for Endeavour and making sure it is successful on its new mission of advancing science learning and encouraging a passion for exploration as it was on its missions."

posted 11-14-2011 05:13 PM               

L.A. businessman Steve Soboroff is the special advisor to the Los Angeles Endeavour project. He is one of only a handful of people who are mapping the shuttle’s course from the airport to Exposition Park. Soboroff gave us an exclusive preview of the first part of the route. The rest is being kept secret for security reasons.

posted 12-17-2011 11:42 PM            

The tank –- the orange cylindrical structure affixed to the shuttle's belly at launch –- and twin solid rocket boosters had been displayed at the Kennedy Space Complex visitors center, officials told The Times last week.

When the shuttle exhibit is assembled next year, it will be a challenge to ship the external tank from Florida. It is typically moved by barge, meaning it might have to be transported through the Panama Canal, said California Science Center President Jeffrey N. Rudolph.

"It's actually quite a bit longer than the shuttle," Rudolph said. The fuel tank is 153.8 feet long, and the orbiter is 122 feet.

Museum officials were happy at the award. But a major challenge is that shipping will add to the $200-million the museum needs to raise to transport the shuttle and build a new wing at the state-run museum in South Los Angeles.

"We're going for donations for everything," Rudolph said.

posted 03-28-2012 05:25 AM               

It is typically moved by barge, meaning it might have to be transported through the Panama Canal, said California Science Center President Jeffrey N. Rudolph.

posted 05-16-2012 10:46 PM            

The California Science Museum said it has raised nearly half of the $200 million needed to build a permanent exhibit for the space shuttle Endeavour.

The museum recently received a donation from the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation that will allow it to start the design phase of the project. The museum didn't disclose the amount of the gift, citing an agreement it made with the foundation.

...when the display opens in 2017, it will be called the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in memory of a real estate developer and astronomy enthusiast, and will feature Endeavour in a vertical position, as if it's ready to launch.

Until then, Endeavour will be housed in a temporary exhibit currently under construction.

posted 05-18-2012 02:38 AM               

California Science Center names new wing for space shuttle Endeavour

When NASA's space shuttle Endeavour lands at the California Science Center in Los Angeles this fall, it will be displayed in a temporary exhibit, and later a new museum facility, named for an entrepreneur, explorer and philanthropist.

The California Science Center (CSC) announced Thursday (May 17) it was naming its space shuttle display pavilion and planned Air and Space Center after the late Samuel Oschin. The exhibit's dedication was made in appreciation for a "transformational gift" from the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation, which was founded in 1981 to support a variety of causes related to astronomy, the arts, medicine, advocacy, and education.

posted 06-18-2012 05:08 PM               

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posted 07-11-2012 10:09 AM               

California Science Center lines up hangars to house space shuttle Endeavour

Preparations at the California Science Center to receive the space shuttle Endeavour this September are in full swing, the center's president and CEO told collectSPACE. In addition to raising the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion on site, an airline's hangar has been secured to temporarily house the orbiter at Los Angeles International Airport.

The CSC has also received one of Endeavour's large payloads for display alongside Endeavour, and decided to forgo an external tank artifact in favor of fabricating a replica for its future vertical launch pad-like display of the space shuttle.

posted 08-08-2012 12:04 PM               

California Science Center reveals road trip for NASA's space shuttle Endeavour

Space shuttle Endeavour's final flight plan — and road trip map — were revealed on Wednesday (Aug. 8), previewing the cross-country, and cross-county, routes the retired NASA orbiter will follow before landing at the California Science Center for display.

Endeavour, the youngest of NASA's shuttles having been built after the 1986 space shuttle Challenger tragedy, flew 25 space missions between 1992 and 2011. Next month, it will embark on "Mission 26," which will (tentatively) span 26 days to travel from Florida to the Los Angeles museum.

"We are calling it 'The Big Endeavour,'" Jeffrey Rudolph, the president of the California Science Center (CSC), told collectSPACE. "It is pretty exciting and yet a challenging task. We've a lot of things to do to make sure everything works, but we're ready to go."

posted 08-09-2012 01:26 PM               

Viewing the Space Shuttle Endeavour requires a timed ticket.

Due to the high volume of visitors during peak times (weekday mornings and weekend afternoons), we may hold viewing times by 10-20 minutes to ensure an optimal guest experience.

Curently Endeavour reservations are only available through our call center and subject to availability. Online tickets will be available soon.

Endeavour tickets are non-refundable. No exchanges or adjustments can be made after purchase.

1. Endeavour + IMAX
   
2. Endeavour + Cleopatra exhibit
   
3. Endeavour + Cleopatra + IMAX
   
4. Endeavour Only (single tickets are very limited)

posted 08-24-2012 02:47 PM               

For its permanent display, Endeavour will be mounted as it was on the launch pad with side-mounted rockets and a replica of its external tank. In preparation for that exhibit, a pair of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters were scheduled to arrive on Friday at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California, where they will be held until the science center is ready.

The two 149-foot long (45 meter) boosters were previously on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, from where they were trucked to California.

posted 08-29-2012 11:58 PM               

Space shuttle boosters complete cross-country trip for future display

A football-field-long convoy trucking two space shuttle solid rocket boosters rolled up to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Wednesday (Aug. 29), after a two week transcontinental road trip from Florida.

The twin 149-foot long (45 meter) boosters are destined for a vertical display with NASA's space shuttle Endeavour. While the retired orbiter is set to arrive in Los Angeles next month, its launch pad-like exhibit at the California Science Center (CSC) won't be ready for several more years. Until then, Endeavour will be placed in a temporary, horizontal display while the rockets remain in storage at Dryden.