Shuttle Endeavour Arrival at LAX

[Midnight Mover]

Shuttle Endeavour's final flight will land at California Science Center

8/08/2012 Daily Breeze By Art Marroquin Staff Writer (art.marroquin@dailybreeze.com)

www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_21264978/endeavors-final-flight-will-land-it-at-california

The space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to begin its final odyssey next month, when it travels from Florida's Kennedy Space Center to Los Angeles International Airport and on to its new home at the California Science Center, museum officials announced Wednesday. NASA's youngest orbiter will be cleaned up and prepared at LAX until Oct. 12, when it will launch a painfully slow 2 mph, two-day journey through the streets of Los Angeles and Inglewood to the Exposition Park museum. Public tours are expected to begin at the shuttle's temporary hangar on Oct. 30. "Building the Endeavour was a marvel of ingenuity and engineering, and moving the Endeavour will also be a marvel of ingenuity and engineering," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said during a news conference at the California Science Center.

"When the shuttle Endeavour goes on display, it will be testament to what humanity can achieve with science and technology," Villaraigosa said. "It will also be an impressive testament to the history and heritage of space exploration and aerospace innovation here in the region."  Built in Palmdale, the shuttle flew 25 missions during a career that spanned 1992 to 2011, but museum officials have dubbed the trek through Los Angeles as "Mission 26, the Big Endeavour."

The Endeavour will ride piggyback on NASA's Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, landing on LAX's southernmost runway midday on Sept. 20 - barring any rain on the transcontinental journey from Florida. Even though the shuttle resembles an airplane, precipitation and moisture along the route could damage its fragile surface and black tiles, said Stephanie Stilson of NASA's Shuttle Transition and Retirement Directorate. "As we go through this huge effort of bringing Endeavour here, there's a lot of things we have to do to be careful to protect it along the way," Stilson said. "It's been a big endeavor just to coordinate and get to the point where we're ready to set up our equipment."

One day after arriving at LAX, engineers must ensure that wind conditions remain below 10 mph as they use a pair of cranes and a giant sling to lift the 170,000-pound orbiter off the jetliner. NASA's 747 plane will be backed out while an overland transporter rolls under the shuttle. From there, the Endeavour will be moved to a hangar provided by United Airlines, where crews will prepare the shuttle for a final - yet arduous - haul through Los Angeles and Inglewood.
"Space exploration events are like the Olympics - it's always a time to feel good," Inglewood Mayor James Butts said.
"I think that's because space exploration represents that space between the confines of Earth and God in heaven," Butts said. "It represents the opportunity to gain answers and insight beyond this pale existence we have as we pay our mortgages and go to work and hate our bosses."

During the early morning of Oct.12, the shuttle - which is 58 feet tall and has a wingspan of 78 feet - is scheduled to emerge from the United hangar and move through LAX's north airfield, leading to a temporary halt in aircraft operations.
Crews will need to remove 212 traffic signals and lights and move overhead utility lines so that the massive shuttle can slowly maneuver through the streets of Westchester, Inglewood and Hyde Park before it finally arrives at the museum.
Additionally, every tree removed along the route will eventually be replaced with two trees in an attempt to minimize impacts on surrounding communities, officials said.

Endeavour will be housed in a temporary hangar until a new Air and Space Center is completed in 2017. About $200 million worth of museum donations will be spent to move the shuttle and erect the exhibition spaces. "We are really thrilled that Endeavour is coming back to Southern California and that it will help inspire our next generation of engineers and scientists who will make the future missions possible," said Jeffrey Rudolph, president of the California Science Center.
The effort and planning to transport the decommissioned space shuttle was compared to the monumental move of the "Levitated Mass" exhibit. The 340-ton boulder sat atop a massive truck that crept 105 miles from Riverside County to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art during a 12-day journey.

While no parades are scheduled, at least two celebrations are planned along Endeavour's 12-mile route from LAX to the California Science Center. "When the boulder from "Levitated Mass" moved through the streets of L.A. County, it became an impromptu urban celebration," Villaraigosa said. "We also expect that the transportation of Endeavour will be celebrated as truly unique event in our city's history."