To complete the payload bay's configuration, the CSC had several replica parts produced to the same specifications as the authentic hardware that flew in space. The CSC has configured the unit with a replica front piece to represent the single module flown on STS-118. The module placed in Endeavour's cargo bay on Thursday also flew in space on eight shuttle missions, although always connected with another Spacehab to form a double module. The CSC exhibits the Spacehab module that Morgan flew with on Endeavour, but it is remaining on display next to the orbiter so visitors can look inside. In that display, Endeavour will have one of its 60-foot-long (18-meter) payload doors open, showcasing the Spacehab inside. Beginning in late 2017, the center plans to attach Endeavour to a set of real solid rocket boosters and a replica external tank and then raise the entire stack to stand inside its new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. Since October 2012, the CSC has displayed Endeavour in a temporary pavilion erected for the orbiter. 'No flown orbiter has had its payload bay doors configured in this way other than when inside one of orbiter facilities, so Endeavour continues to make historic firsts,' Ken Phillips, Endeavour's curator at the California Science Center, said. The logistics module's addition, together with several other real and replica parts, marked a major milestone towards the center's plans to display the NASA winged orbiter in a vertical, launch-ready configuration. In an event titled 'Go for Payload,' the California Science Center (CSC) in Los Angeles hoisted a Spacehab module into the open hold of the retired space shuttle Endeavour. 9) for what was very likely the last time in history. In the coming weeks, the shuttle is being prepared for an early October ride via flatbed truck through the streets of Los Angeles to its retirement home, a permanent display at the California Science Center.A large piece of space equipment was installed in a space shuttle's cargo bay on Thursday (Oct. Click here to expand image.īottom line: Millions glimpsed and photographed Space Shuttle Endeavour Friday (September 21, 2012), as it made its final aerial spin over California. They had just flown over the lab heading out… Endeavour’s cockpit via Neatorama. Lyle said this photo was taken from Altadena, California, less then a mile east of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Endeavour’s final flight Septemvia EarthSky Facebook friend Lyle Evans. California Science Center officials have promised that twice as many trees will be planted to replace those cut for the shuttle’s final parade. There’s been some outcry from Los Angeles residents, who’ve objected to the cutting down of about 400 trees in order to make room for the five-story-high shuttle with a 78-foot wingspan.

The road trip – scheduled for early October – to the California Science Center has been billed as a parade.

Meanwhile, work crews have spent weeks clearing a path for Endeavour’s final 12-mile trek through Los Angeles streets, removing trees and dismantling utility poles. Twitter users followed the journey online (hashtagged #SpotTheShuttle). Millions of people saw Endeavour as it flew over several cities across the southern U.S. Endeavour will then be placed on a special flatbed trailer in preparation for a 12-mile commute through the streets of Los Angeles to its new retirement home: a permanent display at the California Science Center. This weekend, crews will begin the several-week process unbolting the shuttle from the 747 jumbo jet that carried it on its final flight. Endeavour blasted to orbit 25 times during its two decades as one of NASA’s fleet of space-going shuttles. The Space Shuttle Endeavour was airborne for the last time yesterday (September 21, 2012), making a final sweep around California skies before its last-ever landing in Los Angeles.

Space shuttle endeavour