Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Space Shuttle Endeavour Exhibit Opens to Public, Celebrates Feats in Astro-Plumbing and More
After lumbering through an 11-mile course from LAX to its new home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, the space shuttle Endeavour is ready for a little face time with the public.
The opening ceremonies, hosted by NASA officials, former astronauts and politicians, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, inducted the shuttle into the 18,000-square-foot Samuel Oschin Pavilion on the Science Center grounds. The Pavilion will serve as a temporary resting place for Endeavour until 2017, when the Science Center reaches its projected $200 million goal for a new air space wing that will vertically display the shuttle and some of its machinery. For the next four years, however, the shuttle remains on display horizontally.
Endeavour's placement will allow visitors to score a distinctive view of the ship and become much more acquainted with astronautic technology than they've probably ever been. The exhibit walks visitors through many facets of the orbiter itself, from its wheels, which visitors can touch if they please, to information on the Rocketdyne Operations Support Center (ROSC), the San Fernando Valley control room that monitored Endeavour's flight. Informational videos will also acquaint visitors with the shuttle's past missions and crews.
But the most bizarre of all highlights is the "Space Potty," or cutting-edge Waste Collection System, that apparently alleviated one of space travel's most pressing concerns. Onlookers will get a thorough rundown on how astronauts "handle their business" in outer space.
Support for LAist comes from
But more importantly than astro-plumbing, the exhibit chronicles Endeavour's strong connection to California and pays homage to the state's spacecraft industry, which is often overlooked as a local contributor to national and international scientific achievements. The exhibit's "California Story" segment shows photographs of Endeavour under construction in Palmdale and Downey and pieces together video footage of its assembly, roll-out and launch.
Interested parties can finally view the shuttle as of today, but admission requires a timed ticket, which you can purchase here. Endeavour ticket prices cost $3 for non-members and $2 for members and are sold on a first come, first serve basis. The Science Center is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
We hope you make it out to see Endeavour to celebrate a little SoCal history and learn a thing or two about space travel and or space-plumbing. Godspeed—we're all counting on you.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist