Space Shuttle Endeavour gets a new home

Written by
Space Shuttle Endeavour on launch pad 39A prior to mission STS-127, 31 May 2009
Space Shuttle Endeavour on launch pad 39A prior to mission STS-127, 31 May 2009 (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

The shuttle is coming! The shuttle is coming! One of America’s retired fleet of space shuttles is getting a new home in Los Angeles. The California Science Center in Exposition Park has announced construction will soon start on an aircraft hangar to house and display the space shuttle Endeavour. The hangar will be built on the northwest side of Exposition Park. But the hanger will be temporary until a permanent air and space museum is built with Endeavour as its star attraction.

The California Science Center is one of four museums in the country getting a shuttle. Endeavour is expected to arrive in L.A. later this year, ferried from Kennedy Space Center atop a retrofitted 747. Then comes a traffic “final frontier,” while the shuttle is carefully convoyed across Los Angeles from LAX to Exposition Park.

This space geek eagerly awaits Endeavour’s arrival. By the way, if you want some shuttle trivia, this spacecraft is named after Britain’s HMS Endeavour, James Cook’s 18th Century sailing vessel.