The US space shuttle Endeavour took its final flight on Friday, making a spectacular series of flypasts over California before landing in Los Angeles where it will retire near its birthplace.
Shuttle Endeavour lands in Los Angeles Space shuttle Endeavour flew over California landmarks including the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory before landing at the airport. (Raw Vision).
Piggy backed by a specially fitted Boeing 747, the shuttle flew over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge before heading south to take in the Hollywood sign and Disneyland, later landing at LA International Airport (LAX).
"It's so cool, and so sad," said Todd Unger, 28, who was among thousands who camped out from the early hours at the Griffith Observatory overlooking the city and the nearby iconic hilltop Tinseltown sign.
The shuttle had spent the night at Edwards Air Force Base north of Los Angeles, the last leg after a two-day trip across the country from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Before reaching the West Coast, it flew over Tucson, Arizona, to honour former lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a horrific shooting last year and whose astronaut husband Mark Kelly commanded Endeavour's final mission.
"It was pretty spectacular...the people of Tucson got an incredible view of this remarkable machine," Kelly told CNN.
"It's really a testament to American ingenuity," he said.
The shuttle will now spend a few weeks at a United Airlines hangar at LAX, before being transferred to the California Science Center, where it will go on display on October 30.
Endeavour, which flew more than 115 million miles (185 million kilometres) in its two-decade career, completed its final mission last year.
After NASA brought an end to the 30-year shuttle program last year, major US cities battled for the right to house the shuttles. Enterprise, the prototype that never flew into space, is now on permanent display on the runway of the Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York.
The Kennedy Space Center will keep Atlantis, and Discovery is on display at a museum outside Washington.
Two other shuttles were destroyed in flight. Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia broke apart on re-entry to Earth in 2003. Both disasters killed everyone on board.
Endeavour's trip to Los Angeles is a homecoming of sorts. It was built in Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, as a replacement for Challenger.
Its last, 12-mile road trip to its final destination is scheduled to take two days, starting on October 12.
That operation is not without controversy: locals have protested because some 400 trees are being cut down along the route, and power lines and other obstacles reconfigured, to make way for the giant winged space craft.
The California Science Center has promised to replant four times as many trees as are removed.
"Before the Endeavour lands at its final destination, there's one more leg on its amazing journey," LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said on Friday.
"In less than a month, we'll have a chance to see a site as impressive as today's flyover - the Endeavour travelling through our streets and hundreds of thousands of people cheer it on."
"It was pretty spectacular...the people of Tucson got an incredible view of this remarkable machine," Kelly told CNN.
"It's really a testament to American ingenuity," he said.
The shuttle will now spend a few weeks at a United Airlines hangar at LAX, before being transferred to the California Science Center, where it will go on display on October 30.
Endeavour, which flew more than 115 million miles (185 million kilometres) in its two-decade career, completed its final mission last year.
After NASA brought an end to the 30-year shuttle program last year, major US cities battled for the right to house the shuttles. Enterprise, the prototype that never flew into space, is now on permanent display on the runway of the Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York.
The Kennedy Space Center will keep Atlantis, and Discovery is on display at a museum outside Washington.
Two other shuttles were destroyed in flight. Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia broke apart on re-entry to Earth in 2003. Both disasters killed everyone on board.
Endeavour's trip to Los Angeles is a homecoming of sorts. It was built in Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, as a replacement for Challenger.
Its last, 12-mile road trip to its final destination is scheduled to take two days, starting on October 12.
That operation is not without controversy: locals have protested because some 400 trees are being cut down along the route, and power lines and other obstacles reconfigured, to make way for the giant winged space craft.
The California Science Center has promised to replant four times as many trees as are removed.
"Before the Endeavour lands at its final destination, there's one more leg on its amazing journey," LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said on Friday.
"In less than a month, we'll have a chance to see a site as impressive as today's flyover - the Endeavour travelling through our streets and hundreds of thousands of people cheer it on."
Space shuttle Endeavour:
Thousands await final pass over L.A.
As the space shuttle Endeavour passed over Northern California on its farewell tour, hundreds of people poured into Griffith Park, lined up on the bluffs at El Segundo and crammed onto the Santa Monica Pier in anticipation of witnessing the shuttle's final flight before it lands at LAX and is groomed to become a museum showpiece.
Along the bluffs at El Segundo, dozens of people arrived as dawn broke, some camped out, others seated on folding chairs, others standing. By midmorning, hundreds looked out over the south runway at LAX.
Patrick Hill, 53, of Sunland, said he came to honor of his father-in-law, who worked on the shuttle at the Palmdale facility. Hill said he and his wife created a collage of photographs of all the space shuttles but especially Endeavour.
TIMELOG: Endeavour's final journey
NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the space shuttle Endeavour securely mounted on top touches down at Edwards Air Force Base after third leg of its four-segment final ferry flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 20, 2012. (Credit: NASA)
“He would be proud to see all this,” Hill said of his father-in-law, who died in March. “I’m overwhelmed. He loved this stuff.”
Nearby were three women who set up their viewing spot at 4 a.m. Kristin Jarman, 41, from Brea, her sister Karin Landry, 38, of Danville, Calif., and their friend Maria Lang 47, who lives in Trabuco Canyon. Jarman said they’re “traveling space geeks,” noting that Landry interned in 1999 at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Dan Roufberg, 49, works as a heavy equipment mechanic at LAX but said he wasn’t about to miss this. He planned to take Endeavour’s journey, part of a scrapbook he is making for his 6-month-old son.
“There’ll be something nice for my son to have. This is the end of an era. I want my son to be aware of it.”
PHOTOS: Space shuttle Endeavour 1991-2012
At Griffith Park, enthusiasm swelled as the flyover drew closer.
When Artin Gharibian, an assistant park services attendant, arrived for work about 5:45 a.m., there were already hundreds of people waiting to pick out their seats to view Endeavour's passage over the observatory.
"This is the job to have," he said, smiling. "I would have been here anyway."
Carla Torres of La Mirada arrived with her husband and four of her five children, parking nearly half a mile down the road from the observatory, even though she arrived at 7 a.m.
Matthew Jordan Smith of Los Angeles showed up around 6:30 a.m. with a new mega-zoom lens he bought to capture the moment. "It's not every day you see this,” Smith said.
On the Queen Mary, shuttle fans parked themselves on the sun deck, along the historic ship's right flank.
Francisco and Toni Perez of Cerritos took the day off to watch Endeavour's final airborne minutes.
"I'm extremely happy," Toni Perez said. "It's not packed, we'll get a good view of it and we won't have to fight traffic when we leave."
SUBMIT PHOTOS: Upload your shuttle photos here
Greg Low pulled his two daughters, Crystal and Kiana, from school to watch what he figured would be both a historic and educational moment.
"It's an educational field trip," Low said. "They can learn about this in a classroom, but it's nice to see it fly and then see it at a museum."
And at the Santa Monica Pier, long before the signature Ferris wheel began spinning, scores of people waited to witness the flyover.
Richard Castro of La Puente arrived early to snap photos for his grandson, who he said is fascinated by space. Ethan Lee, 8, had to be in school, but Castro said he was enjoying the benefits of retirement.
"Before I couldn't miss a day of work," the former truck driver said. "But now it's simple. This is the last flight, and if you can make it, you've got to be there."
Join the Times’ William Hennigan and Scott Gold at 11:30 a.m. for a live discussion with Marco Caceres, senior analyst and director of space studies at aerospace defense industry consultant Teal Group, and Ron Garan, a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force and NASA astronaut who flew on the Endeavour and lived on the International Space Station.
Via:Smh
Via:LAtimesBlog
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