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.
Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.Įnterprise, which was released from a carrier aircraft for approach and landing tests, is displayed at the Intrepid Museum in New York.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. Discovery rests on its landing gear at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Retired shuttles Atlantis and Discovery and the test ship Enterprise, which did not go to space, are on display across the country.Ītlantis is at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, where it is displayed as if in orbit with its payload doors open and robotic arm extended. Columbia broke apart during reentry on Feb. Shuttle Challenger was lost and its crew of seven died in a launch accident Jan. In all, NASA operated five shuttles in space. About $360 million of the $400 million cost has been raised. In addition to completing the building, about 100 other aircraft and spacecraft will be installed along with numerous interpretive exhibits, Rudolph said. The 116-foot-long (35.3-meter-long) rocket motors were trucked to Los Angeles from the Mojave Desert in October and installed the following month. In use, the boosters would be attached to the external tank to help the shuttle's main engines lift off.
It began in July with precise installation of the bottom segments of the side boosters, known as aft skirts, for the first time outside of a NASA facility. The process of assembling the shuttle system in vertical configuration was dubbed “Go for Stack,” an informal term for putting together rocket components for launch. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Air and Space Center was held in 2022 on the 11th anniversary of Endeavour’s final return from space. The shuttle was initially displayed horizontally in a temporary exhibit hall. The external tank arrived by barge and made a similar trip across the city. The shuttle was flown to Los Angeles International Airport in 2012 atop a NASA Boeing 747 and then created a spectacle as it was inched through tight city streets to Exposition Park. “You know, I saw every space shuttle on the launch pad that ever flew as I worked on the launch pad, and to stand here and see it again like this is kind of melancholy.”Ĭlark described the work completed early Tuesday as a “soft mate.” The attachments will be further tightened Wednesday.Įndeavour flew 25 missions between 19, when NASA’s shuttle program ended. “It brings back a lot of memories for me,” he said. “It's incredible,” said Larry Clark, a veteran NASA contractor who spent nearly his whole career as a shuttle engineer and is a consultant to the science center's project. The 20-story-tall display stands atop an 1,800-ton (1,633-metric ton) concrete slab supported by six so-called base isolators to protect Endeavour from earthquakes.Īll parts of the vertical launch configuration are authentic components of the shuttle system, including the rust-colored external tank, which was flight-qualified. “Everyone who sees it, even those who’ve seen the shuttle before, they say wow.” “The scale of it is something that really amazes people,” he said. Rudolph, president and CEO of the science center, who estimated it will take up to two years to finish the project. “This is a huge morning for us now," said Jeffrey N.