Post date: Sep 20, 2012 3:53:17 PM
HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 20, 2012) (NASA) - Riding piggyback atop a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, the space shuttle Endeavour departed Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in Texas early Thursday (September 20) on a journey to its final resting place as a museum exhibit at the California Science Center near Los Angeles.
Piggybacking on top of a jumbo jet, the shuttle Endeavour departs Texas on its way to California where it will serve as a museum exhibit.
The shuttle will refuel at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas before landing heading to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, where it will land for the night.
On Friday Endeavour will be flown to northern California to pass by NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field and landmarks in and around San Francisco, Sacramento and other cities.
The final leg of the journey will take Endeavour on a tour over Los Angeles before the 747 jet touches down at Los Angeles International Airport around 11 a.m. PDT (1800 GMT).
The shuttle will be taken off the carrier jet and moved to a United Airlines hangar to be prepared for transport next month to the California Science Center, about 12 miles (19 km) from the airport.
The trip to the museum, which will take place along Los Angeles neighborhood roads, requires some 400 trees to be cut down and the temporary removal of hundreds of utility poles, street lights and traffic signals to accommodate the 175,000-pound (79,379-kg) winged spaceship.
The California Science Center plans to plant 1,000 new trees to replace those taken down for Endeavour's road trip. The shuttle is due to go on display on Oct. 30.