The process of assembling the shuttle system in vertical configuration was dubbed “Go for Stack,” an informal term for putting together rocket components for launch. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Air and Space Center was held in 2022 on the 11th anniversary of Endeavour’s final return from space. The shuttle was initially displayed horizontally in a temporary exhibit hall. The external propellant tank arrived by barge and made a similar trip across the city. The shuttle was flown to Los Angeles International Airport in 2012 atop a NASA Boeing 747 and then created a spectacle as it was inched through tight city streets to Exposition Park. “You know, I saw every space shuttle on the launch pad that ever flew as I worked on the launch pad, and to stand here and see it again like this is kind of melancholy.”Ĭlark described the work completed early Tuesday as a “soft mate.” The attachments will be further tightened Wednesday.Įndeavour flew 25 missions between 19, when NASA’s shuttle program ended. “It brings back a lot of memories for me,” he said. “It’s incredible,” said Larry Clark, a veteran NASA contractor who spent nearly his whole career as a shuttle engineer and is a consultant to the science center’s project. Rudolph, president and CEO of the science center, who estimated it will take up to two years to finish the project.Īll parts of the vertical launch configuration are authentic components of the shuttle system, including the rust-colored external propellant tank, which was flight-qualified. “This is a huge morning for us now,” said Jeffrey N. The building will be completed around Endeavour before the display opens to the public.
Towering 116-foot shuttle engines standing tall in LA joining them soon – Endeavour herselfĬrews then attached Endeavour, covered in a protective wrapping, to the tank in a process that lasted into the predawn hours Tuesday.Shuttle Endeavour’s boosters get cone tops at California Science Center.
Space Shuttle Endeavour drew final admirers at California Science Center.Crew moves fuel tank into position for Space Shuttle Endeavour display.Space Shuttle Endeavour is ready for ‘liftoff’ as crews move it toward museum.NASA’s retired space shuttle Endeavour was carefully hoisted late Monday and attached to a huge external propellant tank and its two solid rocket boosters at a Los Angeles museum where it will be uniquely displayed as if it is about to blast off.Ī massive crane delicately moved the orbiter, which is 122 feet long and has a 78-foot wingspan, into the partially built Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center in Exposition Park.