The space shuttle Endeavour has flown into orbit 25 times, and now it can add an aerial view of Los Angeles to its flight history.
Update: Endeavour Departs for Southern California
If all goes well, the retired shuttle which will be housed at the California Science Center in Exposition Park will make its final flight starting at 7 a.m. eastern time Wednesday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
Piggybacking a 747, Endeavour will offer California a series of dramatic low-elevation flyovers when it enters the LA basin sometime after 10 a.m. Friday.
The massive history-maker will fly over the following locations before landing at LAX:
- California Science Center
- Disneyland
- Getty Museum
- Griffith Observatory
- Huntington Beach
- JPL
- LA City Hall
- Queen Mary
- Santa Monica Pier
- Space X in Hawthorne
- Universal Studios
The shuttle will depart Florida Wednesday and arrives at the edge of the Mojave Desert at about 12:35 p.m. Thursday before Friday’s Golden State tour, set to start at 7 a.m.
Thunderstorms along the flight path threatened to delay the shuttle's trip, but on Tuesday, NASA officials said storms should move far enough away from the route to allow Endeavour's journey to resume as scheduled.
Endeavour will be undocked from the carrier at LAX, and crews at a United Airlines hangar will prepare the shuttle for transport – a 12-mile trip to the Science Center through South LA streets.
It is expected to arrive at the Science Center on Oct. 13 and go on display Oct. 30 in the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion.
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Cameras attached the planes will record Endeavour's trip. Watch it live on NBCLA.com starting at 4:15 a.m. Wednesday.
