![]() on its way to Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. Gabrielle Giffords and husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, watch the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over Tucson, Ariz. ![]() In this photo provided by the Southwest Photo Bank, former U.S. The piggyback pair spent the night at Houston's Ellington Field, near the home of Mission Control at Johnson Space Center. On Wednesday, the shuttle left Florida forever and made low passes over NASA facilities in Mississippi and Louisiana. The landing at LAX marked the end of a three-day cross-country trip from Endeavour's former home at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "That was a real treat to see something like that." "This was a once-in-a-lifetime event," said pilot Doug Causey, who has been flying for 29 years. Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Miami snapped pictures and shot video out their windows as the shuttle arrived. As Endeavour approached LAX, other airplanes were forced to circle and wait. California Highway Patrol officers came through and blared on loud speakers for people to move on.Įxtra officers were on duty along the freeways near the airport to make sure traffic flowed smoothly as the shuttle zoomed overhead. Traffic came to a near stop along a freeway near the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory east of Los Angeles when motorists pulled off to the shoulder to watch. "But if you're driving, please drive and don't try to take in the show simultaneously." "We want people to take in this majestic show," Los Angeles police Cmdr. "Onward to Mars."īecause Endeavour buzzed by some of the Golden State's most iconic sights, law enforcement and transportation authorities warned motorists not to "gawk and drive." "It's just a shame that the program has to end, but I'm so glad they came to the Bay Area, especially over the Golden Gate Bridge," she said. All rights reserved.Peggy Burke was among the hordes of camera-toting tourists who jammed the waterfront along the San Francisco Bay, reflecting on the end of an era. See for continuing coverage of the delivery and display of NASA's retired space shuttles.įollow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman robertpearlman. ![]() Atlantis' arrival will mark the final shuttle delivery, following the ferry flights of Discovery and Enterprise in April and Endeavour this week. Three days later back in Florida, NASA's space shuttle Atlantis will embark on its own road trip, moving to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for its exhibit opening in July 2013. 30, the science center will open its Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion to the public. before work gets underway to remove Endeavour from the SCA using large cranes.Ī few weeks later on Oct.12, Endeavour will leave LAX mounted to a wheeled transporter on a two-day, 12-mile (19-kilometer) road trip to the CSC. Whenever it finally arrives, a ceremony at the airport will welcome the shuttle to L.A. (Image credit: Ben Cooper/ via )įirst heading north for scenic flyovers of Sacramento and San Francisco, the 747 jumbo jet was scheduled to - and may still - land at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) between 11:30 a.m. Space shuttle Endeavour is seen at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) at sunrise on Sunday, Sept. On the way to Dryden, the SCA would fly Endeavour over the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, where the shuttle orbiters' thrusters were serviced between space missions and which served as the landing site for one early shuttle flight.ĭryden, which was the fleet's primary West Coast landing site during the shuttle program's 30-year history, was then to be the point of departure for Endeavour's final flight when the SCA took to the air one last time to finish its cross-country journey. The SCA was originally scheduled to remain at Ellington for two nights, but when the weather first forced a one-day delay, to keep the flight on schedule, the stay was shortened to just an overnight visit.Īfter leaving Ellington and making a short stopover at Biggs Air Force Base in El Paso, Texas, to refuel, the SCA and Endeavour was to fly to the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to spend the night. Flight planners are currently working to revise the flyover and stopover schedule.Īs it was originally planned, after departing Kennedy and circling Florida's Space Coast, the SCA would conduct low flyovers of the NASA centers in Mississippi and Louisiana before landing at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in Houston on the first of the four legs of its trip. If the weather conditions improve and Endeavour leaves Wednesday, it is not yet clear what route will take it to California.
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