NASA’s retired space shuttle, Endeavour, has been carefully installed in the vertical launch position by the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Endeavour will be on display in the science museum’s new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, currently under construction in Exposition Park.
Endeavour’s installation comes after a complex, six-month process dubbed ‘Go for Stack’ to move and lift each component into place for the upright display.
The 122-foot-long orbiter is just one part of the full space shuttle stack and was lifted onto two solid rocket boosters and a 154-foot external tank (ET-94) by a 450-foot crane.
Complex stacking process completed in LA
The stacking process has never been done outside of a NASA facility before, and marks the first time in more than 10 years that Endeavour has been seen in a liftoff-ready position.
“With the lift and mating of Endeavour, we have successfully completed the last-ever space shuttle stack. This is a dream over 30 years in the making, and a feat that has never before been accomplished outside of a NASA or Air Force facility,” said Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center.
He added, “The California Science Center has been fortunate to have a remarkable group of experts devoted to this project who have decades of experience working with NASA and the shuttle program – some from the very first space shuttle launch in 1981.”
Per a press release, Endeavour flew 25 missions in space. It landed for the final time on 1 June 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is expected to take another year and a half. After this, the California Science Center will start installing the artefacts and exhibits.
The 200,000-square-foot expansion will nearly double the California Science Center’s exhibition space. Endeavour will be the new museum‘s centrepiece.
Images courtesy of California Science Center
