Space Shuttle Endeavour up close and personal

[Dave F]

Today (October 12, 2012) the retired space shuttle Endeavour is being moved from its temporary home at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to its permanent home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park.  The very slow 12 mile trip over city streets will take until tomorrow.  As I write this, Endeavour is presently sitting on its mobile transporter in the Westchester Square shopping center parking lot at the corner of Sepulveda and La Tijera Blvd, a few blocks from the airport.  This afternoon, it will continue on its final journey.

In an amazing stroke of luck, my brother's office just happens to be in that shopping center.  The parking lot is closed to the public today for Endeavour, but he managed to obtain a special parking permit to allow him (and me!) access.  We arrived there at 4:30 this morning and got a ringside view of the shuttle moving down La Tijera , across Sepulveda, and then into the parking lot.  Here is a preliminary photo.  More to follow later.

[HarrySmith]

COOL!!!

[Dave F]

COOL!!!

The picture just can't capture the excitement of being there.  When it passed by our location, the right wingtip was only a few feet away.  In fact, they had to stop for several minutes (right in front of us) to trim some branches off a palm tree on the parkway, as the wing wasn't quite going to clear.  Across the street in another public parking lot there were several hundred people who had managed to brave the traffic to be there, but on our side of the street we were in the company of just a few very lucky folks.

[AE_Collector]

More to follow on the 6 O'Clock News...

This is Dave F reporting for Channel CRPF, Los Angeles!

(Terry)

[twocvbloke]

And to think, all them space germs being passed around everywhere it goes...

Nah, I like the space shuttles, and as a Trekkie, I'm proud to say that Enterprise was named after the USS Enterprise in Star Trek (though president whassisname at the time was also quite fond of the real USS Enterprise apparently, so had some bearing on the name change from Constitution to Enterprise), even though it was only an atmospheric test vehicle and never reached space, without Enterprise, the shuttles would never have gotten off the ground... 

It's sad to see them being parked up as science museum exhibits though, especially given that the current president thinks that space travel is not important to the expansion of the human race (you know, learning about what's around us, and how to get there by inventing new propulsion and power systems that could be used here on earth), but each to their own...

[Dennis Markham]

I am envious, Dave.  What an opportunity for you.  I hope more photos will be posted when time permits.

I was able to witness the launch of the space shuttle Challenger in April of 1985.  This was the launch just prior to the January 1986 disaster.  We were at the Cape for the launch.  Thanks for posting the photo.

[Dave F]

Endeavour update:

Its ~7 PM in Los Angeles.  Endeavour is currently at the corner of Manchester and La Cienega Blvd, just west of the 405 (San Diego) freeway, and right across the street from Randy's Donuts.  Later tonight, it will cross over the freeway at the Manchester bridge.  Presently, the shuttle is being transferred off the motorized crawler and onto a smaller trailer.  This is being done because the Manchester bridge cannot support the weight of both the shuttle and the crawler simultaneously.

In a public relations coup, a Toyota pickup truck is slated to pull the 80-ton shuttle over the bridge.  You will eventually see the event in a Toyota commercial.

As you may recall, California's 405 freeway is the busiest freeway in the country.  A section was recently closed for an entire weekend (dubbed Carmageddon II) due to an ongoing major construction project.  Can you imagine what will greet freeway drivers later tonight as they approach the Manchester bridge?  I'm sure that nobody who witnesses the shuttle on the bridge will ever forget that sight!  Even now, traffic on that portion of the freeway is slowed to a crawl as drivers crane their necks to try to catch sight of the shuttle (which is just out of range from that perspective).

Once across the freeway, Endeavour will be reinstalled on the crawler and continue on through Inglewood to the Science Center.

I will eventually post more photos of today's encounter in the parking lot.  Here is a picture of the parking permit that got us in.  We had to present it to the guard, then leave it on the dashboard to prevent the car from being towed away.

[twocvbloke]

I can't help but notice that the shuttle on that permit is Enterprise... 

[Dave F]

I can't help but notice that the shuttle on that permit is Enterprise...  

Actually, the picture on the permit is Endeavour on its way to LAX a couple of weeks ago, escorted by two F/A-18  NASA jets.  Below is a picture of Enterprise being flight-tested back around 1977.  Notice that the 747 SCA (Shuttle Carrier Aircraft) was a different color back then.  Also notice that Enterprise had a long test probe sticking out from the front of the nose, and the vertical tail fin did not have the same black details as Endeavour's.

[DavePEI]

How sad it is seeing the shuttles reaching their final resting places. I will never agree that the end of the shuttle program was a good idea. People forget how many advances the space program brought the world. They look at the dollar cost of the program, and not the benefit to all society in medicine, research, and the millions of developments brought through the program.

Reminds me of Bell Labs, and the loss to all of us its end brought to us. I feel it is another example of the losses due to short-sighted people who look only at the physical cost, and not at the developments and value to humanity. Some things are priceless.

RIP, you beautiful shuttles! We will miss you!

Dave

[Dave F]

How sad it is seeing the shuttles reaching their final resting places. I will never agree that the end of the shuttle program was a good idea. People forget how many advances the space program brought the world. They look at the dollar cost of the program, and not the benefit to all society in medicine, research, and the millions of developments brought through the program.

Reminds me of Bell Labs, and the loss to all of us its end brought to us.

RIP, you beautiful shuttles! We will miss you!

Dave

I believe (and this is only my personal opinion) that the powers-that-be finally came to the realization that the shuttle system, a hodgepodge of compromises from the start, was inherently unsafe, and that continuing the program would almost certainly eventually result in yet another tragedy.  Even after all the testing that followed the Columbia incident, they never could completely solve the problem of insulation falling off the external tank during launch.  This did not bode well for the future, and they knew it.  So, it's time to say goodbye to a very exciting era.  Heck, at least one of survivors is ending up right here in my back yard, and I'll be able to see it whenever I want!

PS -  Endeavour update:

Last night, at about 11:30 PM, a Toyota Tundra did indeed pull Endeavour across the Manchester bridge and over the 405 freeway, which had temporarily been closed to prevent accidents due to gawking.  I haven't checked, but I'm sure that film of that event is available on the internet -- probably at least on Toyota's website.  Endeavour is making a couple of crowd-pleasing stops today, and will reach the museum tonight.  Initially, the shuttle will be displayed horizontally, just as it is being transported.  Later, a whole new building will be built, and the Endeavour will be mounted vertically in launch position, complete with SRBs (solid rocket boosters) and external fuel tank.  Now, THAT will be a sight to see!

DF

[twocvbloke]

Actually, the picture on the permit is Endeavour on its way to LAX last week, escorted by two F/A-18  NASA jets.  Below is a picture of Enterprise being flight-tested back around 1977.  Notice that the 747 SCA (Shuttle Carrier Aircraft) was a different color back then.  Also notice that Enterprise had a long test probe sticking out from the front of the nose, and the vertical tail fin did not have the same black details as Endeavour's.

Well darn, I was looking at the cowling thing over the back end, that was one of Enterprise's distinct features, not having the cones for the engines on show, cos they weren't fitted, ah well... 

Still, it's a shame Enterprise never got put into use, but the changes they made between it and the "production models" would have cost more to alter Enterprise to join the fleet (especially after the loss of Challenger) than it did just to cobble together a new shuttle from their stock of spares to form Endeavour, though it was used post Columbia to test hypothesis of how Columbia was damaged by loose foam, so it did have a brief use other than a museum piece...

It'd have been nice to have at least one real Enterprise in space, but the way the bean counters are saying no, there probably never will be, at least, not in this century...

[Dave F]

...<snip> Still, it's a shame Enterprise never got put into use, but the changes they made between it and the "production models" would have cost more to alter Enterprise to join the fleet ...

Enterprise was never designed to go into space.  Modifying it for spaceflight would certainly have cost more than building a new one, if that even would have been possible.  Enterprise is presently on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum in New York City.

[ReneRondeau]

Thanks for the up-close and personal pictures of this final stage. Very exciting!

As most of you probably know, a couple of weeks ago the Endeavor did a tour over California en route to its new home. Looking at the map in the newspaper it looked to me like it would travel reasonably close to me on its way to the Golden Gate Bridge. I watched and waited with great anticipation but I almost fainted when I realized it wasn't just passing within viewing distance, but literally directly overhead. A 747 at 1,000 feet is already an unbelievable sight, but with the shuttle mounted on top it was mind-blowing.

[Dave F]

Many more Endeavour photos from Sepulveda and La Tijera on 10/12/12 to follow later.  Here's one cool view of our close encounter:  Endeavour slowly heading east on La Tijera, just past Sepulveda intersection at about 5:30 AM.  Right wing was literally within reach, although trying to touch it would have been highly problematic considering all the security people around.  Look carefully at the background and you can see some of the hundreds of people lined up on the other side of the street.  On our side, there were fewer than 20!