Next, we came upon something we couldn’t pass up…even at $5 a person. One film called Grand Finale simultaneously showed the launches of all 135 missions of the space shuttle program.Īfter checking out the tires, we viewed a pretty funny video that tells how astronauts go to the bathroom in space. We were escorted in promptly at 10, and we first visited a room that gave a lot of information about the shuttle program. When we arrived at 9:45 a.m., there were already about 75 people in line (I highly recommend getting the first available tickets of the day at 10, because when we got back to the parking lot, it was virtually filled). In all, Endeavor flew 25 missions before the shuttle, the last being in 2011. The orbiter is named after the British HMS Endeavour, the ship which took Captain James Cook on his first voyage. However, today we only had one goal…check out the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the fifth (and last) shuttle in the fleet, which was constructed to replace the ill-fate Challenger that exploded in 1986. We also saw some undersea life that day from fishes to jellyfish. They ride approximately 36 feet across the atrium and return to the platform.” Yes, I was a tad nervous, but survived…for a few more weeks anyway. The bicycle trip starts with the visitor riding backward out of a controlled loading area. As visitors mount the bicycle for a “ride,” they peer down to the floor approximately 43 feet below. It was described on the website like this: “The High Wire Bicycle rests precariously on a guide wire suspended across an open expanse of the California Science Center’s grand atrium.
Somehow on that day Tracy talked me into going on the High Wire Bicycle.
Tracy and I had visited the California Science Center back in 2010, just a few weeks before my long hospitalization, which could have turned ironic if I had died since we had gone to see the Mummies Of The World Exhibition (photo of mummy…the guy on the right wise guy… is from the internet…photos were not allowed). Our friends Susan and Lenny accompanied us. Parking is $10, which is more than the four tickets (even with the “convenience” charge) combined. The parking lot for the California Science Center is located adjacent to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, home of USC football, the site of the 19 Olympics and former home of the Los Angeles (now St. The tickets are free, but you have to pay a $2 “convenience” charge to print them out at home. We had purchased our timed tickets on line, and I chose for us to go as early as possible (10 a.m.). I’ve been interested in space travel ever since the Mercury astronaut days, so I was excited to be able to see the shuttle up close, not knowing I’d even get a little Mercury fix at the end. In October of 2012, the shuttle moved successfully and without incident through the streets of Los Angeles, an event captured on national television.Space Shuttle Endeavour/California Science Center – Los AngelesĮveryone gets spaced out living in Los Angeles, so what better way to spend Memorial Day 2013 than head down to the California Science Center to check out the Space Shuttle Endeavour. A video was also produced to show the conflicts and obstructions. For the shuttle to move safely and successfully through the urban center of Los Angeles, DEA’s survey team used laser scanning technology to identify horizontal and vertical conflicts that would need to be avoided or temporarily removed along the proposed route.ĭEA’s 3D mobile laser scanning system provided a dense point cloud of data about the route in August of 2011. DEA employed 3D mobile laser scanning technology to collect data and identify obstacles along the 15-mile route.Įndeavour is 122 feet long, with a wingspan of 78 feet and a height of 58 feet, and weighs 175,000 pounds. The shuttle traveled the streets of Los Angeles from Los Angeles International Airport to its final resting place, the California Science Center in Exposition Park.
The Space Shuttle Endeavour has a new home in the City of Los Angeles, but getting there was no small feat.