Space Shuttle Endeavor is currently in its launch position at the California Science Center’s soon-to-be-constructed Samuel Oshin Air and Space Center, which will soon be added to the museum’s array of educational programs.
On January 29, the California Science Center moved the shuttle from a horizontal position to an upright position for the first time since it flew into space in 2011.
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Endeavor has been sitting grounded on its side in a hangar next to the science center since its arrival in 2012. The process of uprighting the 172,000-pound shuttle was a long journey in itself.
“After considering various options, the best approach is to follow essentially the same procedure that NASA uses for every launch at Kennedy Space Center,” California Science Center CEO Jeffrey Rudolph said in a statement. I have determined that it is.” “We decided a while ago that there was only one way to get it. [it] It was to be installed before the building was completed. ”
The approximately six-month “transition to stack” process, which was completed on January 29, began with the installation of an aft skirt at the bottom of the exhibit to provide structural support for the solid rocket booster and external tank. Ta. The shuttle then had to be attached to a seismic isolation device beneath the building. This is a common procedure for museums in Southern California to prepare for possible earthquakes.
Endeavor will now have a permanent home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, just meters from USC’s University Park campus. Currently, Expo Park is the only place outside of a NASA facility where shuttles travel this way on-site, and the only place on Earth where you can see a fully assembled Space Shuttle system.
“It’s kind of a surreal experience,” said Kenneth Phillips, curator of aerospace sciences. “It’s very similar to how I felt the day I got the call that I won Endeavor. It’s kind of a shock to the system.”
The Samuel Oshin Aerospace Center, which will be built around the shuttle, is expected to open to the public within the next few years.
Rudolph said he is excited about the hands-on, interactive experiences Endeavor will offer, including allowing guests to get very close to objects that have flown through space.
The shuttle arrived in Los Angeles in 2012 aboard a converted Boeing 747. The shuttle then paraded down the street from Los Angeles International Airport to Expo Her Park’s home base. Thousands of onlookers watched the shuttle move through Los Angeles, and many more watched from home. It took him more than a year to plan every inch of Endeavor’s journey across the city.
“There were a million people lining the streets to watch the shuttle pass. To me, that says a lot just the public interest in the space program,” said Peter, who specializes in thematic options and practice history.・Professor Westwick said. He is also director of the Huntington Institute of Southern California and the Western Aerospace History Project.
Project coordinators and volunteers spent years preparing for the day Endeavor could be displayed as if it were in operation. The journey to this moment has been a long one for many, especially those who have been with the Center since its earliest days.
“I’ve been working on this project for 34 years,” Phillips said. “His first 20 years were spent trying to get NASA to award the Space Shuttle…his last 12 years were spent designing, engineering, and financing how to get this object out of its original location. I’ve been thinking about it. [on] The old horizontal display has been moved to where you are looking now. ”
Westwick said the California Science Center, which was the seventh most visited in North America in 2019, is a “vital channel” for educating the next generation in STEM.
“One way to get young children interested in STEM fields is to get them excited about the idea of space exploration,” Westwick said. “For some of them, their interest and fascination with space leads them to STEM fields. Other children inspired by STEM go into other fields, which leads to economic competitiveness of the nation. .”
The science center currently receives an average of 2.2 million visitors a year, 400,000 of whom were school children.
“The California Science Center was very crowded when I visited,” Westwick said. “People love to come see these things. So this is a good way to see if we as a society are going to motivate more kids to learn his STEM.” .”
Six shuttles were built and operated from 1977 to 2011, with Endeavor being the last. NASA said it wanted Endeavor to be used as a learning tool and asked each organization to explain its “benefit to the nation.” More than 20 educational institutions competed for the shuttle.
“It was a very celebratory moment,” Phillips said, recalling the phone call telling him the science center had accepted Endeavor. “I couldn’t believe it.”
As the successor to Space Shuttle Atlantis, Endeavor flew more than 25 flights and spent a total of 7,179 hours in space. The shuttle he was decommissioned in 2011.
Phillips wants the center to remain an open and accessible place where everyone can participate in airspace and broader exploration.
“This is an invitation for people to not just look, but to learn how this works,” Phillips said. “To learn how to build it, how to operate it, and how to participate in the game of exploration.”
