“We’re still exploring space, we’re still exploring the sea, and they can participate in that.” “Our real goal is to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers,” Rudolph said. While the exhibit won’t be open until sometime after 2025, when the new Center is complete, the public will have until the end of this year to catch a glimpse of Endeavour - still horizontally - at its current display. The motors will attach to the rest of the Endeavour in the coming months as it prepares to be displayed. With the equipment arriving safely, the mission was declared a success. “Honestly, it caught us by surprise a little bit.” “It’s got a deep connection to pride in what we as a country can accomplish,” he said. Rudolph said the team was taken aback by the reactions they’ve received since welcoming Endeavour to the center – from flag waving to USA chants to salutes – as for them it’s as much a symbol of international cooperation as national pride. So many Americans have been impacted by space travel.” “Exploration of space is something that’s been inspiring to people in so many different ways. “Culturally, the space shuttle has a really important place in America’s history,” California Science Center CEO Jeffrey Rudolph said. Science Center officials in July officially began the process of creating the vertical display, in what they have dubbed a “Go for Stack” process. “This is another way to spark their interest.”Īll of the launch components - the shuttle Endeavour (which is already there but still horizontal), rocket boosters and massive fuel tank - will be included in the vertical display of the in the under-construction $400 million Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. “The school does a good job with their science focus,” Khan said. Many of the children were from the Alexander Science Center School, which is on the museum’s campus.Īround 9:30 a.m., with crowd reaching more than 1,000 people, the first motor eased in off Figueroa Street and turned into the science museum, with the truck driver enthusiastically blaring the horn. Some youngsters yelled “fly it, fly it,” waving hand-made signs while waiting their turn to get an up close look at the two massive motors. Hundreds of people, mostly children, lined both side of the streets outside Exposition Park. But at 9 a.m., methodically moving heavy-duty semi trucks transporting the engines, along with their entourage of law officers and others, were still about two blocks from the science center, where crowds and media waited. Boulevard before a ceremonial “finish line” at 39th Street, planned for 8:45 a.m. Boulevard, with a pause at Martin Luther King, Jr. The giant motors - each 116 feet long, more than 12 feet in diameter and both 104,000 pounds - are among the last major components needed in what will ultimately be the only vertical, launch-ready configuration of a shuttle in the world.Īfter exiting the 110 freeway, the motors traveled north along Figueroa Street, from 43rd Place to Martin Luther King, Jr. 11, the last leg of their journey to a new forever home, where they will be displayed with the shuttle Endeavour. The mammoth engines chugged along on the Harbor (110) Freeway before dawn Wednesday, Oct. Two iconic Solid Rocket Motors - the kind that once propelled America’s famed space shuttles into orbit - formally ended their freeway journey to the California Science Center in an L.A. Los Angeles got a historic boost on Wednesday, Oct, 11 - actually, two of them.
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