California Science Center presents Mission 26: The Big Endeavour
By amusementtoday | March 8, 2013
LOS ANGELES — The California Science Center will open “Mission 26: The Big Endeavour,” an exhibition that will add a new experience for guests visiting the Space Shuttle. The exhibition is composed of more than 80 stunning images, many taken by Los Angeles Times photographers, highlighting spectacular scenes witnessed during Space Shuttle Endeavour’s flight over California and her 12-mile, 68-hour journey through city streets to her final destination in the Samuel Oschin Pavilion at the California Science Center. A short time lapse video and contributions from local schoolchildren also invite guests to feel or remember what it was like to be part of this festive, historic occasion. The exhibition opens at the Science Center in Los Angeles on March 11, 2013.
Moving Space Shuttle Endeavour across the United States was a massive, complex undertaking. In September, 2012, Endeavour took flight and was carried on the back of a specially equipped Boeing 747 aircraft from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida to Dryden Edwards Air Force Base in Palmdale, California. Endeavour honored many California landmarks, as it flew over the State, from Sacramento to Southern California while onlookers marveled at the sight all along the way. After landing at Los Angeles International Airport, Endeavour was prepared for another adventurous journey through the heart of urban Los Angeles to its new home at the California Science Center. At 78 feet wide, 57 feet high and 122 feet long, navigating the streets of Los Angeles and Inglewood required the guidance and skill of over 100 people and numerous citywide agencies in Inglewood and Los Angeles. Traffic was diverted; engineers and technicians lifted power lines and took down traffic lights while approximately 1.5 million people showed up to celebrate the event. Photographers and filmmakers were on hand to document this once-in-forever moment in history. What they captured on film will be on view for guests to the California Science Center through September 2, 2013.
The California Science Center has welcomed more than 1 million guests since Space Shuttle Endeavour was installed in its Samuel Oschin Pavilion on Oct. 31, 2012. This number, achieved in six months, is remarkable since the Science Center’s yearly attendance is about 1.6 million visitors.
