NASA's Endeavour to Make Final Flight Wednesday
Despite several postponements due to weather, the Endeavour space shuttle began its last flight Wednesday atop a NASA 747 jet to Los Angeles.
Endeavour has been on 25 trips since its first launch in 1992 and is now being retired to the California Science Center near downtown Los Angeles.
The entire flight will last through Friday as Endeavour makes a low-level flyover several NASA centers and locations along the way, including the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Lockheed Martin's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and NASA's Ames Research Center in San Francisco.
"A large team -- the California Science Center, the cities of L.A. and Inglewood, logistics, tree and utility and engineering experts -- have spent hundreds of hours preparing for Endeavour's complex journey," the Science Center website reads.
The flight will end on Friday at Los Angeles International Airport around 11 a.m. PDT, but the journey will continue.
After being housed at the airport temporarily, Endeavour will travel through 12 miles of urban streets to its final destination.
"To make way for the Endeavour, we picked routes through the cities that would have the least impact on surroundings and we'll be using a state-of-the art Endeavour Transportation System that will allow us to maneuver precisely around trees, light poles and utility poles wherever possible," according to the Science Center.
"Pruning is also another tool being utilized in this effort. Thousands of trees along the route are being preserved and protected as a result of this careful planning."
The shuttle will be on display at the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion at the Science Center beginning Oct. 30.
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