LOS ANGELES — Space Shuttle Endeavour, assembled in Palmdale, now stands in launch position at the California Science Center’s new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which opens to the public on Friday, Nov. 13, the science center announced.
Gov. Gavin Newsom helped launch the center on Wednesday, Oct. 28, joined by science center President and CEO Jeffrey N. Rudolph, his office said in a news release. The release said the installation has been described as the world’s first and only authentic display of a space shuttle in launch position. The science center said the 200,000-square-foot expansion will be the only place in the world to see a complete, authentic shuttle system in a 20-story launch position.
General admission to the science center, including the new center, is free, the science center said. Entry to the Air and Space Center will require timed reservations for a $4 per person service fee, according to its website. The science center is at 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles.
Newsom said in that announcement that the center “reflects our state’s enduring commitment to science, education, and innovation.”
The Oct. 28 released highlighted the importance of what the governor’s office called California’s space economy. The release noted that California is home to one-third of the nation’s space technology companies and “has more aerospace engineers and defense personnel than any other state.”
Other highlights from the release included:
• California ranks #1 in corporate aerospace R&D spending and #1 in space-technology venture capital. Together, these reflect the nation’s highest concentration of aerospace talent, with California alone accounting for roughly 40% of all U.S. space-technology patents.
• California receives about $3 billion a year in NASA science funding, the most of any state, and 28% of all NASA research and development.
• A higher education engine—California Community Colleges California State University, and the University of California — forms the nation’s most productive public pipeline for aerospace talent. Alongside private institutions such as Stanford, USC, and Caltech, this engine helps California produce more aerospace engineers than anywhere in the U.S.
• California has over 96,000 aerospace manufacturing jobs, more than any other state.
More than 500 companies and 16,000 workers in the state contributed to NASA’s Artemis program, including Artemis II, the United States’ first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years.
A new display opening Nov. 13 at the California Science Center features Space Shuttle Endeavour in launch position. — Courtesy California Governor’s office
The final flight
Endeavour’s route to Los Angeles passed over Edwards. NASA said in a 2012 news release that it transferred title and ownership of the shuttle to the science center on Oct. 11, 2011. The final ferry flight of the Space Shuttle Program era carried Endeavour atop NASA’s modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, the agency said.
NASA’s advance schedule called for a landing at Edwards on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. Weather delayed the trip, and reports by collectSPACE and NASASpaceflight show it landed on Thursday, Sept. 20, at what was then NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. Endeavour spent the night there, those reports said.
NASA’s release said the aircraft would depart the next morning with flyovers of Palmdale, Lancaster and Rosamond. It would then head north for Sacramento, San Francisco and NASA’s Ames Research Center, and return south for flyovers of the Los Angeles area before landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Reports from the time show the departure and LAX landing took place Friday, Sept. 21.
Endeavour originally was displayed horizontally at the science center. That exhibit was closed in late 2023 to prepare for the installation set to open this week.
According to NASA, Endeavour completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit and orbited Earth 4,671 times while traveling 122,883,151 miles.
Source: News releases from California Governor and NASA; California Science Center news release and website.