Endeavour in Leading Role to Educate, Inspire Future Explorers

By Bob Granath

For more than a decade, NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour has been the star attraction at the California Science Center. During that time, more than 18 million guests at the West Coast museum have learned about the Space Shuttle Program’s legacy. After 25 flights to space during the first 20 years of its career, Endeavour departed the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 19, 2012, mounted atop a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). It soon arrived at its new home beginning an ongoing role educating and encouraging explorers of tomorrow.

Endeavour currently is exhibited horizontally. However, as the science center’s website explains, plans call for the Space Shuttle to be displayed in a vertical, “ready for launch” position with solid rocket boosters and an external fuel tank. “This will allow guests to get a closer and more detailed view of the orbiter than ever before,” the announcement stated. The only other full stack exhibit of a Space Shuttle includes the Pathfinder orbiter at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Endeavour’s premiere, California Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph reflected on the excitement associated with the Space Shuttle’s arrival.

“Everyone throughout California, Los Angeles and our local community came together to enthusiastically welcome home our national treasure,” he said. “That journey was just the beginning of Endeavour’s enduring mission to inspire future generations of scientists, engineers and explorers.”

That community includes Rockwell International in nearby Palmdale where all of the Space Shuttle orbiters were built. Additionally, the 1977 Approach and Landing Tests of the orbiter Enterprise took place north of Los Angeles at Edwards Air Force Base, a location that also served as a landing site for many shuttle missions.

From Spaceflight to Hollywood Star

From STS-49 in May of 1992 until STS-134 in May 2011, Endeavour’s crews flew 122,883,151 miles, totaling 299 days in orbit. The first crew rescued a communications satellite. Its final mission delivered a key component to the International Space Station.

During STS-49, the Endeavour crew captured the non-functioning INTELSAT VI satellite and replaced a rocket motor that provided a boost to the necessary higher orbit. During STS-47 in September 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman in space joining crewmates in conducting life science and materials processing experiments. The first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission was flown during STS-61 in December 1993. Idaho schoolteacher and NASA astronaut Barbara Morgan conducted educational lessons from Earth orbit aboard Endeavour’s STS-118 mission in August 2007.

After STS-134, the orbiter began final preparations for its ferry flight to California. The work to de-service or decommission the orbiter included removing containers that once held toxic propellants such as hydrazine and oxidizers, ensuring all dangerous commodities were drained.

“Endeavour’s preparations have gone extremely well,” said Stephanie Stilson at the time. She was NASA’s flow director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement. “Since its last flight, we have been de-servicing the vehicle instead of re-servicing it (for a future mission). We’ve met all the (schedule) milestones and completed the work needed for the ferry flight.”

One of the crucial operations took place in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) on Aug. 10, 2012. Appropriately, Kennedy’s Director, Bob Cabana, was the last person out of Endeavour. He is a former astronaut who commanded one of the most important Space Shuttle missions – STS-88. On that flight in December 1998, the first American-built element for the International Space Station was delivered to orbit.

Along with United Space Alliance (USA) technicians Gary Hamilton and Joe Walsh, Cabana sealed Endeavour’s hatch for the final time.

“Thanks, great job,” said Cabana as he expressed appreciation to all those working the closeout.

According to Bobby Wright, a senior aerospace technician with USA, final closeout preparations for Endeavour was a little different this time.

“For years we completed closeouts for a flight,” he said. “When we closed out an orbiter at the launch pad, it was crowded with the astronaut seats and mission equipment. This time we were closing it out for a museum.”

On Aug. 16, 2012, Endeavour backed out of Bay 2 of the OPF and transferred to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) changing places with the Space Shuttle Atlantis. As the two orbiters met, they paused for a “nose-to-nose” photo opportunity. Scores of space center employees and news media reporters were on hand to photograph the activity. Endeavour was moved out of the VAB to the Mate-Demate Device at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility on Sept. 14, 2012 for the two-day process of mounting it on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

“We have an off-load team of about 40 NASA and USA people who will go to Los Angeles about three weeks ahead to prepare the off-load site,” Stilson said.

Endeavour’s Premiere

The Endeavour-Shuttle Carrier Aircraft combination completed a cross-country trip on Sept. 22, 2012. But, before landing at Los Angeles International Airport, millions of onlookers watched as the spacecraft-SCA combination flew over some of California’s most well-known landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, the California State Capitol and the Hollywood sign.

Just a few weeks later, 1.5 million people lined the streets during the shuttle’s journey from the Los Angeles Airport to the California Science Center. The 122 foot-long Space Shuttle rolled out of a United Airlines hangar on Oct. 11, 2012 as it was towed along a 12-mile route on surface streets to its new stage. During the two-day trip, more than 700 volunteers supported the effort of moving the 151,205-pound shuttle as it methodically made its way down South Los Angeles streets while under the watchful eye of Los Angeles Police officers.

Several times crews from Southern California Edison used cranes to lift power lines away from the Space Shuttle’s 56-foot tall vertical stabilizer tail. It towered over buildings, street signs and billboards, and, occasionally, trees required trimming to accommodate the shuttle’s 78-foot wingspan.

Endeavour’s arrival at the California Science Center was the third delivery of an orbiter to a museum. After the end of the Space Shuttle Program, Discovery was transported to the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington D.C. It replaced the test orbiter Enterprise that was then flown to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. The shuttle Atlantis was towed to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Nov. 2, 2012 where it now is on display.

Opening night for the Space Shuttle Endeavour Exhibition was Oct. 30, 2012 with remarks from Rudolph, California Gov. Jerry Brown and NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center Director David McBride, others attending the premiere included NASA astronauts James Kelly, Shane Kimbrough, Leland Melvin, Barbara Morgan and Garrett Reisman.

“We are delighted that the California Science Center will use Endeavour to inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers and we thank you for helping tell the story of NASA’s historic past as we begin to write the stories of the future today,” said McBride during the ceremony. “The next chapter in space exploration begins now, and we’re standing on the shoulders of the men and women of the shuttle program to reach farther into the solar system.”

Stimulate Curiosity and Inspire Learning

According to its website, “The California Science Center aspires to stimulate curiosity and inspire science learning in everyone by creating fun, memorable experiences, because we value science as an indispensable tool for understanding our world, accessibility and inclusiveness, and enriching people’s lives.”

The center features hands-on exhibits and education programs in four areas.

World of Life — Probes the commonalities of the living world, from the single-celled bacterium to the 100-trillion-celled human being.

Creative World — Examines the ways people employ technology to meet their needs for transportation, communication and structures.

Ecosystems — Features a blend of more than 200 species of live plants and animals and hands-on exhibits in 11 immersive environments.

Air and Space — Exhibits explore the science and engineering behind atmospheric flight and space travel, including the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

The Air and Space section is extensive. It is one of the few museums displaying flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft along with a Space Shuttle. Their Mercury Redstone-2 capsule lunched the chimpanzee, Ham, on a suborbital fight on Jan. 31, 1961, paving the way for America’s first manned mission by Alan Shepard. Gemini 11 took Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon on a three-day mission in September 1966. The Apollo capsule on display was flown on the July 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in which NASA astronauts Tom Stafford, Deke Slayton and Vance Brand docked with a Soviet Soyuz flown by Russian cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov.

When the 20-story-tall vertical configuration of Endeavour is fully assembled, the exhibit will nearly double the California Science Center’s Air and Space educational exhibit area. It will include an artifact collection of aircraft and spacecraft with interactive displays. To go along with Endeavour, an external fuel tank was delivered to the science center in 2016. Two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) made from parts that launched on more than 80 Space Shuttle missions were delivered by Northrop Grumman in 2017 to the Mojave Air and Space Port. The twin SRBs are being held in storage until needed for final construction of the vertical stack exhibit.

“We remain immensely proud that NASA chose the California Science Center to be the permanent home and steward of Space Shuttle Endeavour,” said Dr. Kenneth Phillips, the California Science Center’s curator of Aerospace Science.

While the Space Shuttle’s Discovery, Enterprise and Atlantis now are featured in complete displays, work continues on Endeavour’s final configuration. That is because there is no charge to visit the California Science Center and the $400 million cost is being raised through a fundraising campaign. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex funded its Atlantis exhibit through admission fees starting at $73.25 for adults.

“NASA cited our prime location for reaching millions of people, our educational mission and our free general admission as key factors in their decision-making process,” Phillips said. “We’re pleased to be able to have the opportunity to reach an even wider audience in the future.”

The California Science Center is a destination for families to explore science with interactive exhibits, live demonstrations, innovative programs and films. The center, which includes an IMAX Theater, is located in Exposition Park just west of the Harbor (110) Freeway at 700 Exposition Park Drive in Los Angeles. The science center is open to the public seven days a week with free general admission to its four major exhibit areas from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is $15.

Disclaimer: The author toured the California Science Center in August 2021. The comments expressed in this feature are my own. SpaceAgeChronicle.com did not receive compensation for this feature.

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