Shuttle Endeavour: New Home in Los Angeles

Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, stood before the Space Shuttle Endeavour on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to unveil the vehicle’s new permanent home. The shuttle, which traveled 122 million miles in space, is now positioned nose-up inside a massive new structure in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park. This display includes the flown orbiter, rocket boosters, and external tank in full launch configuration.

The exhibit is housed within the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, a 200,000-square-foot expansion that nearly doubles the size of the existing museum. The new complex cost $450 million to build. A distinctive cone-shaped stainless steel dome rises above the surrounding area, enclosing the 200-foot-high shuttle display. Drivers in the neighborhood can see the dome from the street.

Tickets for the public opening on Nov. 13 are on sale now. Admission to the main museum is free, but visitors must pay a $4 fee to reserve a spot in advance. The shuttle was originally built in Palmdale, located about an hour’s drive from its new home. Many residents in Southern California remember the 12-mile street journey the shuttle made from Los Angeles International Airport to Exposition Park in 2012.

Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the site for the media unveiling. He told reporters that his 10-year-old son was impressed by the exhibit. “It was the triumph of imagination and daring,” Newsom said, referencing the state’s aerospace industry. Rudolph said the center considers the addition a gift to California and the world. He has previously stated that he wanted to acquire a space shuttle for the museum since learning the NASA program was ending.

The NASA space shuttle program ran from 1981 to 2011. The Endeavour was built to replace the Challenger, which exploded in 1986 and killed all seven crew members. The Endeavour launched for the first time in 1992 and completed 25 missions. During 299 days in space, its crews repaired the Hubble Space Telescope and contributed to the construction of the International Space Station.

Art Hill, a retired engineer who worked on the shuttle program for 37 years, now volunteers as a docent at the complex. He noted that visitors often expect the spacecraft to look shiny and metallic. “The kids who come in here look at this thing and think it looks like it’s made of cardboard,” Hill said. He explains that the orbiter is covered in heat-absorbing tiles, blankets, and graphite to withstand reentry temperatures of 3,000 degrees. “There is an aluminum plane under there, but you can’t see it,” he said.

Jo Murray, a Long Beach resident and columnist, attended the preview. She worked in the aerospace industry 50 years ago. Seeing the shuttle upright and ready for launch was “really an emotional moment,” Murray said. “There’s something about ships, spacecraft and trains: It almost seems like they have souls. They go so far beyond technology.”

The new center offers several interactive experiences that cost extra. The Launch Tower is a glass elevator that travels 140 feet up the shuttle stack to a glass floor observation platform, costing $10. The Shuttle Descent Slide takes visitors down 45 feet to simulate descent from orbit. Other features include a simulated flight deck with control panels and an orbiter landing simulator.

The Korean Air Aviation Gallery displays authentic aircraft, including gliders, fighter jets, and the front 70 feet of a Boeing 747. It also offers a five-minute simulated flight from Los Angeles to Seoul. The museum’s IMAX theater will screen four space-related films, with tickets priced between $13 and $15. On opening day, a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. will include approximately 30 astronauts, including all six crew members from the shuttle’s final mission. Talks on aerospace topics will be held every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 13 through 15. The center is located at 700 Exposition Park Drive.