The Brief

The California Science Center is putting the finishing touches on its biggest “Endeavour” yet — lifting the space shuttle orbiter into its vertical launch position in the soon-to-be Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.

Endeavour was put in place overnight Monday, and it’ll soon be attached to the external tank and twin solid rocket boosters in the construction zone, completing the world’s only authentic space shuttle stack.

About the orbiter

Endeavour, which NASA named Orbiter Vehicle-105, was the final orbiter to join the space shuttle fleet.

It was built to replace the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven people onboard in January 1986.

Endeavour has been making history since its second mission.

The orbiter took Mae Jemison, the first Black woman, into space on its second trip in 1992. It also helped repair NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope so it could see to the farthest edges of the universe, and was part of the first mission to add a U.S. component to the International Space Station.

About the final move

To prepare for the late-night lift, Endeavour moved from its temporary home for the past 11 years, the Samuel Oschin Pavilion, down the street to the construction site last Friday. It took crews several hours to move the orbiter a little less than 1,000 feet.

Jeff Rudolph, the president and CEO of the California Science Center, told LAist the orbiter isn’t quite as heavy as the external tank that made a similar journey earlier this month, but it is much wider.

With a 78-foot wingspan, crews had to maneuver around trees, signs, and other obstacles on both sides of the street. The orbiter was loaded onto SPMTs — self-propelled modular transporters — so they could slowly but surely make adjustments along the way.

Endeavour, covered in a protective shrink wrap, making a slow but steady journey past the construction zone for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Friday, Jan. 26.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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Once the orbiter was parked right in front of the construction zone, it was ready for the big lift.

It was rigged on a 450-foot crane that started moving the orbiter Monday night. It was also connected to a vertical lifting swing, borrowed from NASA, that helped bring Endeavour into launch position a little more than a half hour into the lift.

Half of the lifting swing was released about 20 minutes later, and the orbiter inched its way up towards the stars for the next hour and a half, with a few short breaks for the handful of helicopters that came within the 1-mile no fly zone.

The lift wasn’t advertised to the public, but at least 50 people were watching through the chain link fence on State Drive. George Ruiz told LAist he lives about a block away and wanted to see this once in a lifetime event.

“This is in our backyard,” he said. “I just remember about 10 years ago when the shuttle came into town and it was a big party.”

People watching Endeavour orbiter being lifted vertically and into its "Go For Stack" position from State Drive in Exposition Park.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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Clare Davis and her husband were also out watching the big lift. She told LAist they’re not sure if they’ll still be living in L.A. once Endeavour is back on display, but they might come back to Exposition Park just to see it.

“I feel like it's kind of history in the making,” she said. “It's quite an amazing feat of engineering, it's been incredible to watch.”

According to Phillips, there were a few technical challenges during the roughly four-hour lift. For example, he said once the orbiter was in the air, the crane operators were concerned that the angle of the wings wouldn’t clear a nearby building crews on the ground couldn’t see.

Phillips added that NASA had 135 space shuttle missions to practice on, but putting the space shuttle stack together was brand new for the California Science Center.

Once the orbiter was put in place around 2 a.m. Tuesday, it was “soft-mated” with the external tank, which works as the structural backbone of the stack. Phillips said that basically means they put Endeavour on the tank through three points, one at the top and two on the back, and let it sit there to make sure it behaves itself.

If the soft-mate goes according to plan, they’ll then bolt it to the external tank sometime in the next few days, which is bolted to the twin solid rocket boosters. That's considered the “hard-mate” of the orbiter and will complete the space shuttle stack.

People watch as Endeavour orbiter is being lowered into its ready-to-launch from the construction zone for the new building.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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Alyson Goodall, the senior vice president of the California Science Center, told LAist this “Go For Stack” vision has been decades in the making, and it's really fulfilling watching it come to life.

“The leadership of the Science Center dreamed of this, and we have a rendering back in 1992 showing a space shuttle in launch position, and that was before Endeavour even launched itself,” she said.

What’s next

Now that Endeavour is lifted into its new permanent home, the California Science Center has to finish constructing the rest of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.

Crews will add scaffolding and plywood barriers around the entire space shuttle stack to make sure it stays safe during construction, Phillips added.

A close-up of the orbiter as its slowly but surely lowered into its "Go For Stack" position next to the external tank and twin solid rocket boosters.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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The new addition, which is a 200,000 square foot expansion of the museum, will then finish being built around the 20-story Endeavour display.

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will include 100 exhibits, more than a dozen aircraft displays, and 100 authentic artifacts that explore the science of flight and space exploration in three different zones — Air, Space, and Shuttle.

Diane Perlov is the senior vice president for special projects at the California Science Center. She told LAist the Shuttle gallery will feature a 3-minute introductory film that was made in conjunction with J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot.

“When they finish the film, there'll be some mist that goes in the gallery, and it'll be like a launch is happening,” she said. “Then all of a sudden, the screen will rise, and people will look out, and they will see the real stack.”

Perlov added that the space shuttle stack has been placed on a huge seismic isolator that will protect it from being damaged or falling over in an earthquake.

The California Science Center also needs to secure the rest of the funding first. They’re still about $40 million short of their $400 million goal.

Phillips said no gift is too small. Plus, if you sign up to sponsor one of the thermal tiles on the orbiter, your name will be featured in that exhibit.

“There are opportunities for people to get involved in this project,” Phillips said. “I mean, meaningfully involved at virtually every level. Kids can bake cookies, we'll take it."

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center doesn’t have an opening date yet, but construction is expected to take at least a few years.

“So [Endeavour] will be going away for a while, but it's for the better,” Rudolph said.

In just four days, the Los Angeles Official Martin Luther King Day Parade will take over South L.A.

The LA Local recently spoke with Sabra Wady, the parade’s lead organizer, who said this year’s parade will look much the same as recent years.

So, whether you’re attending the parade or watching it on TV, here’s everything you need to know about Monday’s parade:

The procession will begin at 10 a.m., with ABC7 set to begin a broadcast at 11 a.m.

What time does the parade start? How can I watch? Is anything happening after?

Wady said the best place to catch the parade in person is the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. King Boulevard, or “camera corner,” where the parade will culminate and organizers are planning a live preshow. Bleacher seats, though, will be limited.

The Metro K Line runs directly to the intersection, dropping people off at the Martin Luther King Jr. Metro station.

Onlookers can also post up along the parade route with folding chairs and other self-arranged seating, Wady said.

The parade broadcast will run until 1 p.m., but Wady said the procession is expected to keep going until mid-afternoon.

“After the cameras stop rolling, it’s the people’s parade,” Wady said.

LA City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Councilmembers Curren Price and Heather Hutt – who represent council districts 8, 9 and 10, respectively — will organize the annual MLK Freedom Festival in the Leimert Park Plaza from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

What route will the parade take?

The route will remain the same, running down King Boulevard from Western Avenue to Crenshaw Boulevard before turning south down Crenshaw and heading to Leimert Park. Much of the route will be closed to traffic overnight before the parade.

More than 150 groups, including bands, floats, horseback riders and marchers, will trek down the boulevard. Wady said organizers cut off new sign-ups weeks ago in order to keep the parade manageable.

What will road closures look like?

Colin Sweeney, a spokesperson for the LA Department of Transportation, said in an email that the department will close off traffic down the main parade route overnight.

Here are the roads that will be closed to all vehicles for the duration of the parade and festival.

• King Boulevard from Vermont Avenue to Crenshaw Boulevard 
• Crenshaw Boulevard from King Boulevard to 48th Street
• Leimert Boulevard from 8th Avenue to Leimert Park 
• Degnan Avenue between 43rd Street and Leimert Park

Sweeney said only residents will be allowed to drive into the band of neighborhoods directly along the length of the parade route. That includes the blocks from 39th Street to 42nd Street along King Boulevard and the blocks between McClung Drive and Victoria Avenue along the Crenshaw closure.

The transportation department will allow traffic to cross the parade route at major intersections — including Western Avenue, Arlington Avenue and Stocker Street — but those crossings will be shut down at 10 a.m. All closed roads will stay blocked off until the parade and festival wrap up and transportation officials determine crowds have sufficiently dispersed, Sweeney said.

Wady said the parade is expected to peter out around mid-afternoon. The festival at Leimert Park Plaza is scheduled to end at 5 p.m.

Vehicles parked in the parade assembly area, parade route and disbanding area will be subject to impound or tickets, Sweeney wrote.

Topline:

By the numbers: Film and television shoot days totaled 4,625 in the final three months of 2025, up 5.1% in that timeframe. But overall last year, there were 19,694 shoot days, which is down 16.1% from 2024's total of 23.480.

Why it matters: Production in Los Angeles has been slow to rebound since the COVID-19 pandemic and the Hollywood writers and actors strikes in 2023. There is also increased competition from other states that offer appealing film tax credits and other incentives for productions that decide to take their shoot outside of California. This summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded California's Film and TV Tax Credit Program in an effort to lure productions back to the Golden State.

What's next: Film L.A.'s Phil Sokoloski says that many of the productions approved under the expanded tax credit program are just now getting underway, and he hopes the industry will start to see the effects of not only the tax incentive expansion in 2026, but also L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' directives to streamline the permitting and shooting process in the city.

In L.A., there is no shortage of events to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year.

Since 1986, the federal holiday is observed on the third Monday of January to honor the life and legacy of the Civil Rights leader.

California African American Museum

The California African American Museum is hosting a King Day scavenger hunt on Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. On Monday, it is hosting an all-day event honoring King that will culminate with a performance by the Inner City Youth Orchestra of L.A., which is billed as the largest majority Black youth orchestra in the country.

Orchestra at Skirball

The orchestra will also perform at the Skirball Cultural Center on Saturday evening. The free event is already at capacity, but you can try your luck by signing up for the waitlist here. Earlier Saturday, the orchestra will join the Santa Monica Symphony for its annual MLK concert.

Parades and celebrations

Cedric the Entertainer will be the grand marshal of this year’s official L.A. MLK Day Parade on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Western and Crenshaw avenues on Monday. If you’re looking for a parade earlier in the weekend, you can head to Long Beach’s MLK Day parade on Saturday. Also on Saturday is a celebration of King’s legacy at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Culver City.

Volunteer opportunities

In 1994, President Bill Clinton officially decreed MLK Day as a day of service. If you’re looking for opportunities to volunteer, grab free tickets to Monday’s MLK Day Volunteer Festival at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

Free access to state parks

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that more than 200 California state parks will be free to enter on Monday. The move comes after the Trump administration eliminated MLK Day and Juneteenth from the list of days when it’s free to access national parks. There are 12 free state parks on the list in L.A. County, including Los Angeles and Will Rogers State Historic Parks, as well as Topanga and Malibu Creek State Parks. See the full list here.

A 2017 Los Angeles Times article tells the tragic story of Lai Hang, a terminally ill woman who killed her 18-year-old son George, who’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

It’s a carefully reported story by journalist Frank Shyong about a family, about the shame and stigma that can surround mental illness in Asian American communities, and how media portrayals of people with mental disorders can perpetuate harmful misconceptions.

So when Shyong was first approached about the idea of adapting the story he wrote into a narrative film, he had some “very intense” concerns about whether a film would get the story right.

But after conversations with the filmmakers, and thinking through the potential value of telling fictionalized stories based on real-life events, Shyong says, “ I think I realized that my story was in a lot of ways incomplete.”

Nine years later, the film, titled Rosemead, is finished. Directed by Eric Lin and written by Marilyn Fu, the film stars Lucy Liu as Irene, a character based on Hang, and Lawrence Shou as Joe, who’s based on George.

And Shyong, who is credited as an executive producer and served as a consultant on the film, says “it’s sort of completing the circle a little bit” — fleshing out Hang and George as “full 360 degree human beings” and giving glimpses of how their story might have ended differently.

Reporting on trauma in Asian American communities

Back in 2015, when the events depicted in Rosemead happened, the breaking news coverage revealed the basics of what was known at the time — that a woman had fatally shot her son in a Rosemead motel and turned herself in.

“ I think a lot of people probably realized there was more story there,” Shyong says. But the only person who knew the details, Hang’s longtime friend Ping Chong, had declined to talk to the media.

Still, Shyong kept following up because the court records hinted at a story that he thought should be told.

The court records revealed that Hang had been dying of cancer, and that Chong continued to visit her after she turned herself in, performing Buddhist rituals for her.

“Just knowing those two facts,” Shyong says, “and knowing Asian American families, and how complete and terrifying the sense of responsibility that a parent can feel toward a child, I just thought there's gotta be something there.”

He would visit Chong’s shop, a traditional Chinese pharmacy, leaving notes for her and talking to her about why he wanted to know more. And he gained her trust.

 ”You just have to say, ‘This is [the] story I think is here. And do you think that story is true? And if so, can you help me tell it?’ And that's all I did,” Shyong says. “I think that's all any journalist ever does.”

It’s a story that Shyong says he would come to learn is more common than many may expect.   “When you are a caregiver in these communities,” Shyong says, “you can find and name a tragic story like this in probably every zip code.”

How filmmaking and journalism can complement each other

Shyong’s article ends with this poignant quote from Chong, about her friend: “People will only know her as the mother who killed her son [...] But she was more.”

The piece itself goes a long way toward dispelling Chong’s concern, including details about Hang’s life — that she was a talented graphic designer, that she was “beautiful, smart and ambitious,” that she’d lost her husband to cancer, and that she deeply cared about her son.

But “in this case fiction,” Shyong says, “could give closure to characters in a way that I couldn't in reality. It could tell the fullness of this family story.”

The film shows Liu’s character Irene having fun with her son at the beach, and joining his therapy sessions at the urging of a psychiatrist, despite being visibly uncomfortable doing so.

It shows George (Joe in the film) with his friends, who come to visit him after he has an intense schizophrenic episode at school.

The sound design gives a sense of what it’s like to experience schizophrenia, and a part of the film where Joe runs away shows how quickly a boy with a mother and friends who care about him can become an unhoused person who someone might fear on the street.

Ultimately, the film ends on a note of hope, which grew out of something that Shyong learned from Chong after the article was published. In a way that he couldn’t do in print, “It added parts to the story that I wanted to see depicted.”