Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) was NASA’s fifth and final operational Shuttle built. Its first mission was in May 1992, its 25th and final mission in May 2011. When the bid from the California Science Center to house one of the retired shuttles won out over 20+ others, it was flown on the back of a specially modified Boeing 747 to Los Angeles International Airport on September 21, 2012. Over the course of several days, October 11-14, it made its way through the streets of Los Angeles and Inglewood to Exposition Park. On Monday night/Tuesday morning, January 29-30, 2024, the shuttle was moved from its temporary home to its new, permanent home in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the science center, completing the “Go for Stack” configuration of the Endeavour attached to an external fuel tank (the last mission-ready one in existence) and two solid rocket boosters (SRBs).
California Science Museum, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt