“And that, I think, will inspire so many people. And it’s almost overwhelming how huge it is,” Rudolph said. “That’s the view we’re gonna give people - like, they’re right at the base of the launchpad looking up at this shuttle stack. Roughly halfway through the building’s construction, the shuttle will be moved into the structure, and the rest of the building will then be finished.Īstronauts have cheered the Science Center for designing the exhibit so that people will be able to see the last space shuttle ever built in a way relatively few have seen it before. Building construction of the California Science Center’s Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will probably take three years, but it will take longer for the interior to be completed. Once complete, the exhibit will be what’s believed to be the tallest vertical authentic spacecraft display in the world. Of the three surviving space shuttles, Endeavour will be the only one displayed with its nose pointing to the stars, and will be fully attached to the last remaining authentic orange external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. The most recent use was for STS-123, the 21st launch of Endeavour, in 2008.In a milestone, the Los Angeles home of the retired space shuttle Endeavour broke ground Wednesday on a permanent museum, which ultimately envisions the spacecraft displayed as if ready for launch. The oldest cases, located at the top of each assembled solid rocket motor, helped launch STS-5, the fifth flight of the orbiter Columbia, in 1982. 2, the day after the second of the two motors for Endeavour's exhibit arrived in Mojave, the company conducted a ground test with an SLS flight support booster in Utah, using parts previously flown on 43 shuttle launches.Įndeavour's well-used boosters include components that were part of 32 static ground tests and 81 space shuttle missions. Northrop Grumman is using most of its leftover shuttle-era solid rocket motor hardware to support NASA's SLS, which is being built to launch astronauts to the moon. (Image credit: California Science Center/Perry Roth Johnson via ) The retired space shuttle Endeavour debuted on horizontal display in the Samuel Oschin Pavilion at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Oct. After expending their propellant, the twin boosters separated from the vehicle and descended under parachute to a splashdown for their recovery and reuse. The 149-foot (45 meter) solid rocket boosters produced most of the thrust needed for the space shuttle's first two minutes of flight. It will still be a pretty cool thing to watch them come through the streets," said Rudolph. "These are big, but they're a lot easier to move. Once the project is funded and the Oschin Air and Space Center is ready for Endeavour, the two solid rocket motors that are now in Mojave will be brought to the science center with the same pomp and circumstance that the orbiter and external tank previously received. "We are optimistic that we will be able to start construction in the next year."Ī solid rocket motor comprised of parts that previously launched on numerous space shuttle missions is prepared for delivery from Northrop Grumman's Promontory, Utah test facility to Mojave Air and Space Port, to be stored until the California Science Center is ready to exhibit it with the orbiter Endeavour. We've made good progress, but we are not quite there yet to start," Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, told. "Honestly, we're still working on the fundraising. Although it now has all of the components for the space shuttle, the science center is still waiting to break ground on the new building. When the boosters' donation was first announced, the California Science Center was targeting 2019 for the opening of Endeavour's vertical display in the planned Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. "Northrop Grumman and NASA are providing most of the smaller parts, like booster separation motors, from surplus." "As for the non-motor parts of the booster, we sourced a set of flight-representative aft skirts and frustums from NASA surplus and a set of forward skirts that were used for tests for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) program that are currently in Utah," said Jenkins. The solid rocket motors for the California Science Center’s vertical display of the space shuttle Endeavour will remain at the Mojave Air and Space Port until the science center's new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles is ready.
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