A final Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour has flown 25 missions, been in orbit for 299 days, and circled Earth 4,671 times, but now, at last, it has reached the end of the road.
In October 2012, after the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle program the previous year, the now-retired Endeavour made a more than two-day-long journey through Los Angeles to its final destination – the California Science Center, where it will become a tourist attraction.
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in 2008, for just one of the 25 missions it completed during its 19 years of service.
The shuttle launched from a pad at the space centre in Florida, carrying a crew of seven astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station.
The 122 feet (37 meters) long and 78 feet (24 meters) wide shuttle appeared dwarfed against Earth’s horizon as it prepared to dock with the International Space Station on a mission in 2010.
After having returned from a trip to carry equipment to the International Space Station in 2008, Endeavour flew over California's Mojave Desert mounted on a modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft, on its way back to the Kennedy Space Center.
Almost four years later, the now-retired space shuttle, carried on the back of a special aircraft, stood on the tarmac in Ellington Field, Texas. The shuttle had begun its return to California, the state where most of it was made.
After arriving in California, the space shuttle was connected to an Over Land Transporter in preparation for its journey to the California Science Center, where it will be displayed.
A sign in the middle of Lincoln Boulevard outside Los Angeles International Airport, greeted the arriving shuttle. Roads were closed down to allow Endeavour – weighing 80 tons together with its transporter – to travel to its new home.
Endeavour’s flying days are now over, but once it is put on display it may play a role in inspiring future generations of astronauts.
It took more than two days for Endeavour to roll through Los Angeles, and thousands of spectators gathered to see it pass, many taking pictures as it went.
All sorts of space fans came to see Endeavour. Vivianne Robinson of Santa Monica, California, accompanied by a model alien in her bike basket, took a photo of herself with the shuttle.
The shuttle stopped in front of Randy's Donuts as it was transported down Manchester Avenue. Organisers took special measures to allow the spacecraft to move through the city, felling around 400 trees along curbs to clear a path and temporarily removing some streetlights, traffic signals, power poles and parking meters.
Details of tiles on the shuttle, which flew from 1992 to 2011, can be seen up close.
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers stood in a line to watch as the shuttle passed. The spacecraft stands about five stories tall at the tail, which police said makes it the largest object to have ever moved through Los Angeles.
Endeavour crossed a bridge over the 405 freeway, which was temporarily shut down for its crossing. The shuttle’s journey through Los Angeles was a tight one, and was delayed partly by the need to trim trees and perform maintenance on the transporter along the way. Organisers said only a few inches separated Endeavour's wings from structures along its route through the city.
