Space Shuttle Endeavour Embarks On Final Journey


The space shuttle Endeavour has embarked on its final journey to a permanent museum location in Los Angeles, California.

Perched on top of a modified Boeing 747, the shuttle left Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:22 am (EDT) on Wednesday on its way to Houston, reports The Los Angeles Times.

The space shuttle was supposed to depart Florida on Monday, but thunderstorm threats pushed back the shuttle’s departure twice. Despite the delay, however, NASA has said that Endeavour’s cross-country farewell tour will go on as planned including the stop at Houston at the Space Center, reports Fox News.

The shuttle’s farewell tour also includes a series of 1,500-foot flyovers above many NASA sites around the southern US. Included in the flyovers are Florida’s Space Coast, Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. It will also go over Houston, Clear Lake, and Galveston in Texas before it lands at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center.

It will spend Wednesday night in Texas; then the 747 carrying the Endeavour will refuel and fly to Edwards Air Force Base in California where it will be housed on Thursday night.

Finally, the shuttle will fly over Palmdale, Lancaster, Rosamond, and Mojave on its way to Sacramento on Friday. Once there, it will make a pass over the Capitol as well as San Francisco. The shuttle will then turn south and be in Los Angeles about 10:30 am where it will fly over the Getty Center, the Griffith Observatory, Malibu, and Disneyland before making its final landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

NASA awarded the youngest space shuttle Endeavour to the California Science Center in Los Angeles in April 2011 where it will remain on permanent display.

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