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Space Shuttle Endeavour To Permanently Land At California Science Center
Space Shuttle Endeavour on Pad39A at Kennedy Space Center (Photo by jurvetson via Flickr)
With about a dozen facilities vying for the honor, NASA announced today that the California Science Center in Exposition Park has been chosen as the final landing place for space shuttle Endeavour which will be retired after its final mission later this month. The announcement Tuesday coincides with the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch.
The shuttle will be ready for sendoff by mid-2012, reports NBC LA, and Endeavour will make its way to California on the back of a NASA-modified Boeing 747.
Given its forthcoming proximity to USC it seems prudent to remind Kappa Sigma, despite how awesome it would be, to please not have sex inside the space shuttle.
Endeavour, notes the Daily News, was "built in Palmdale to replace the destroyed Challenger shuttle" which exploded 73 seconds after launch in January 1986. Construction on the craft began in 1987 and was finished in 1991.
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"When its final mission is completed, Endeavour will have traveled 115 million miles during 25 flights, carrying 139 people into orbit. It was the final shuttle built, but was the first to include safety improvements such as a drag parachute deployed on landing, and nose-wheel steering to prevent wear on the tires during runway rollout."
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