Space nerds, rejoice! A fully-stacked, 20-story tall space shuttle will soon be on display at a brand new exhibit, appearing as though it’s ready to soar to the skies once more.
The California Science Center has announced that its long-anticipated Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will open to the public on November 13, kicking off the final mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The retired orbiter will be on permanent display at its new home in Los Angeles, boasting a vertical, ready-to-launch position as the museum’s centerpiece.
A legendary run
Endeavour was NASA’s fifth and final space shuttle, built to replace the lost Challenger orbiter. Its maiden voyage was in May 1992, when crew members pulled-off a daring spacewalk to capture a stranded satellite so that it could be repaired and launched again.
Endeavour also took part in the first servicing and repair mission of the Hubble space telescope in 1993. Over the course of 12 missions, Endeavour helped in the assembly and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS).
Endeavour landed for the final time on June 1, 2011, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a 16-day mission to the ISS. Following that landing, only one other Shuttle mission took place, the Atlantis STS-135 mission, marking the end of NASA’s 30-year-long shuttle era, which began in 1981.
Retirement home
Since its retirement, Endeavor has been on display at the California Science Center, albeit laying horizontally rather than standing straight as though it’s ready for liftoff.
The upcoming display will include the Endeavour orbiter, the rocket’s solid boosters, and its external tank. Once fully stacked, the 20-story-tall vertical display will be the only “ready-for-launch” Space Shuttle system in the world in terms of its staging and appearance.
It took approximately six months for engineers to fully assemble the Endeavour for its new display through an intricate, Go for Stack process that began on July 20, 2023 and went on until the Endeavour orbiter was hoisted and mated to the external tank.
In just a few months, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will be available for view in all its glory at its new permanent home to commemorate its soaring legacy.
