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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.
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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.
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