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Endeavor takes to the sky one last time
Source: Agencies |
September 22, 2012, Saturday
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THE United States Space shuttle Endeavour has taken off on an aerial tour of California, not rocketing into space but doing what most tourists do when visiting California: Taking in the state Capitol, Golden Gate Bridge and the Hollywood Sign.
Riding piggyback atop a modified 747 jumbo jet, the shuttle departed Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert yesterday.
Endeavour will circle the high desert before flying north to Sacramento, where it will make a low pass over the state Capitol. Then it will head to the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles basin, buzzing by landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge before landing at the Los Angeles International Airport.
The flyovers last nearly five hours. Throngs of spectators were to watch Endeavour in the air before it retires to a Los Angeles museum.
It's Endeavour's last aerial hurrah before it spends its retirement years in a museum.
Some 400 trees had to be cleared along the 20-kilometer route to make room for its trek from LAX, a move that has riled some residents. Museum officials have pledged to replant double the number of trees.
"We're so excited to be welcoming Endeavour home in grand style with these flyovers," said Jeffrey Rudolph, president of the California Science Center, where the shuttle will go on permanent display.
Endeavour returned to its birthplace on Thursday after an emotional cross-country ferry flight that made a special flyover of Tucson, Arizona, to honor its last commander, Mark Kelly, and his wife, former Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
NASA's shuttle fleet, which retired last year after three decades of flight, was assembled in Palmdale near Edwards Air Force Base.
The youngest shuttle, Endeavour replaced Challenger, which blew up during liftoff in 1986.
Endeavour is the second of three remaining shuttles to head to its retirement home. In April, Discovery arrived at the Smithsonian Institution's hangar in Virginia.
Atlantis, which closed out the shuttle program, will stay in Florida.
Riding piggyback atop a modified 747 jumbo jet, the shuttle departed Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert yesterday.
Endeavour will circle the high desert before flying north to Sacramento, where it will make a low pass over the state Capitol. Then it will head to the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles basin, buzzing by landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge before landing at the Los Angeles International Airport.
The flyovers last nearly five hours. Throngs of spectators were to watch Endeavour in the air before it retires to a Los Angeles museum.
It's Endeavour's last aerial hurrah before it spends its retirement years in a museum.
Some 400 trees had to be cleared along the 20-kilometer route to make room for its trek from LAX, a move that has riled some residents. Museum officials have pledged to replant double the number of trees.
"We're so excited to be welcoming Endeavour home in grand style with these flyovers," said Jeffrey Rudolph, president of the California Science Center, where the shuttle will go on permanent display.
Endeavour returned to its birthplace on Thursday after an emotional cross-country ferry flight that made a special flyover of Tucson, Arizona, to honor its last commander, Mark Kelly, and his wife, former Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
NASA's shuttle fleet, which retired last year after three decades of flight, was assembled in Palmdale near Edwards Air Force Base.
The youngest shuttle, Endeavour replaced Challenger, which blew up during liftoff in 1986.
Endeavour is the second of three remaining shuttles to head to its retirement home. In April, Discovery arrived at the Smithsonian Institution's hangar in Virginia.
Atlantis, which closed out the shuttle program, will stay in Florida.
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