 The space shuttle Endeavour passes a "Shuttle crossing" sign on its way to the California Science Center on Saturday, October 13, in Inglewood, California. Endeavour is on 12-mile journey from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center to go on permanent public display.  People watch Endeavour pass residential buildings on Crenshaw Drive. Over two days, the 170,000-pound shuttle will travel at no more than 2 mph along a 12-mile route from Los Angeles International Airport to its final home.  Kevin Alcaraz, 8, waves a flag from the crowd gathered along the shuttle's route.  Endeavour creeps down Crenshaw Drive.  Endeavour passes a downed road sign.  People watch as the shuttle makes its way up a narrow street.  A boy holds a model of Endeavour as the real thing rolls past.  A worker accompanies the space shuttle Endeavour along Manchester Boulevard.  Endeavour is on its last mission: a 12-mile creep through city streets, past an eclectic mix of strip malls, mom-and-pop shops, tidy lawns and faded apartment buildings.  Mikael Ector, 2, tries to get some rest as his dad, Michael Ector, checks out Endeavour as it arrives at the Forum on Saturday.  Amir Morris, 3, wears an astronaut costume while holding an American flag as the space shuttle crawls past.  Endeavour makes a turn at an intersection.  Endeavour squeezes through a neighborhood lined with apartment buildings on the narrowest part of its journey on Saturday.   Endeavour passes between traffic lights with just a few inches to spare.  Road blocks preceed Endeavour on its journey to the California Science Center.  A detail of the tiles on the underside of Endeavour as it arrives at the Forum.  A plane flies over the space shuttle Endeavour as it is moved to the California Science Center on Saturday.  Work crews set up a "Shuttle Xing" sign on Saturday.  People watch as the craft arrives at The Forum on its way to the California Science Center on Saturday.  Amir Morris, 3, holds an American flag as the shuttle passes by in Inglewood on Saturday.  The space shuttle Endeavour is transported to The Forum arena for a stopover and celebration on Saturday.  People watch as the space shuttle slowly moves along Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood on Saturday.  Crowds look on as Endeavour is transported to The Forum arena before sunrise on Saturday.  Workers talk as the shuttle moves along Manchester Boulevard on Saturday.  Endeavour is expected to arrive late Saturday at the California Science Center, where it will be put on permanent display.  The space shuttle Endeavour is transported to the California Science Center in Exposition Park from Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, October 12, in Los Angeles.  Endeavour moves down a main road lined with onlookers. Endeavour was flown cross-country atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to LAX on September 21.  Workers escort Endeavour on its journey.  Completed in 1991, Endeavour was built to replace the space shuttle Challenger, which disintegrated during a catastrophic re-entry accident. This fifth and final space shuttle orbiter circled the Earth 4,671 times and traveled nearly 123 million miles during its 25 missions from 1992 to 2011.  Endeavour passes businesses and crowds on its way to permanent display at the California Science Center.  Endeavour makes its way past restaurants and shopping centers in Los Angeles.  Spectators come to watch the space shuttle Endeavour as it rests at Westchester Square during its final ground journey in Los Angeles on Friday.  A dog joins the crowd turned out to see Endeavour on Friday.  The space shuttle Endeavour is parked in a mall parking lot on its way to the California Science Center.  Spectators take pictures of Endeavour during its journey through Los Angeles.  People pose with a street sign that was removed to make way for the space shuttle Endeavour during its transport from LAX to the California Science Center.  Workers check the space shuttle Endeavour as it rests at Westchester Square on Friday.  People get a close view of the space shuttle Endeavour in a misty rain during a break in its journey on Friday.  Tree trimmers cut large branches of a tree that was protruding toward the street in a last-minute effort to clear hurdles along the space shuttle Endeavour's route on Friday.  Spectators crowd for a view of Endeavour as it passes through Los Angeles on Friday.  CNN iReporter Wes Smith and other space enthusiasts got a close-up view of the space shuttle Endeavour early Friday as it makes its final journey from Los Angeles International Airport to the Cali fornia Science Center. Smith says he saw the shuttle about 5 a.m. after waiting in a Los Angeles parking lot across from Endeavour's overnight holding area.  Computer-controlled transporters help move Endeavour across Los Angeles International Airport early Friday.  Spectators take pictures of the shuttle Friday at the Los Angeles airport. Once it reaches the science museum, the shuttle will be on display for posterity. It had its first launch in 1992.  Bystanders watch as Endeavour moves out of the Los Angeles airport and onto a public street.  Members of the crowd reach over a fence for a glimpse of the shuttle. Endeavour, along with Discovery, Enterprise and Atlantis, became a museum piece after NASA ended its 30-year shuttle program last year. All four shuttles have been permanently retired from service.  Firefighters and other spectators document the move early Friday.  Fan Vivian Robinson rides her bicycle covered in shuttle memorabilia, American flags and an alien doll outside the Los Angeles airport as she waits to see Endeavour.                                                
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Crowds lined streets and gathered on rooftops early Sunday in Los Angeles as the space shuttle Endeavour, the beloved symbol of the end of an era, inched its way to its resting place hours later than originally planned. The shuttle is expected to reach the California Science Center, where it will be put on permanent display, by mid-morning -- well after the originally scheduled time Saturday night. Organizers of the craft's ceremonial trip through town had taken pains to make room for the 78-foot wide, 122-foot long shuttle, cutting down trees and dismantling traffic signals. But on the trek, organizers discovered more trees to prune to protect Endeavour's exterior.   Endeavors Last Ride  The future of space exploration  Shuttle Endeavour wheeled through L.A.  Endeavour rolls toward new home Dramatic video showed the shuttle, which successfully carried out 25 space missions, moving slowly along city streets, passing with an inch of some traffic poles and buildings. Endeavour's final journey, are you there? Specialists are part of the convoy to make sure that Endeavour and its transporter platform, which together weigh more than 80 tons, don't stress the underground water and sewer systems. Crews laid 2,700 steel plates on parts of the route. "This once-in-a-lifetime event is a cause for celebration," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Gwendolyn Crews, owner of a preschool, bought an American flag to wave at the passing orbiter on Saturday. She said she plans to take her entire preschool to see the Endeavour settle into the museum. "I think this is a history-making moment here in Los Angeles, California, and I want to be able to share this with my kids, my grandkids, my great-grandkids of this great event -- and the children of our school," Crews said. Latasha Covington and her children, 9-year-old Skilyn and 4-year-old Amarie, brought a chair to stand on to get a view over the crowds. "I've been here 32 years in L.A. and I've never seen anything like this, so it's part of history. I wanted them to see that," Covington said. The 12-mile trip started early Friday from Los Angeles International Airport. Endeavour, along with Discovery, Enterprise and Atlantis, became a museum piece after NASA ended its 30-year shuttle program in July 2011. All four shuttles have been permanently retired from service. Named for the first ship commanded by British explorer James Cook, Endeavour rolled out of an assembly plant in Palmdale, California, in 1991 at a cost of $1.7 billion. It was the baby of the shuttle fleet, built as a replacement for Challenger, which exploded shortly after its 10th launch. Over the next 20 years, Endeavour flew some of the highest-profile shuttle missions, covering nearly 123 million miles. It flew a Spacelab mission and numerous International Space Station assembly missions and rendezvoused with Russia's Mir Space Station. The science museum has been trumpeting the arrival of the shuttle, saying it is building a new addition to its facility and will begin displaying Endeavour on October 30. Read more space and science news on CNN's Light Years blog   |
10/14/2012
These streets ain't made for shuttling
Skydiver gets set to break sound barrier
| ROSWELL, N.M. — Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner started preparations early Sunday for his attempt to be the first skydiver in history to break the sound barrier. Before sunrise the former Austrian paratrooper's team began unpacking the 30 million cubic foot helium balloon to hoist the capsule that will carry him 23 miles up in the sky. Mission control officials say the three hour ascent is expected to begin Sunday at 8 a.m. MDT If he succeeds in the death-defying feat, the man nicknamed "Fearless Felix" will break a 52-year-old altitude record by Joe Kittinger, who jumped from 19.5 miles and reached a speed of 614 mph, just under the sound barrier. The jump was postponed on Monday and Tuesday because of unexpected winds. This attempt will hopefully be the end of a five-year road for Baumgartner, a record-setting high-altitude jumper. He already made two preparation jumps in the area, one in March from 15 miles high and on in July from 18 miles high. It will also be the end of his extreme altitude jumping career; he has promised this will be his final jump. Video: Skydiver gears up to break parachute jump record (on this page)Coincidentally, Sunday also marks the 65th anniversary of U.S. test pilot Chuck Yeager successful attempt to become the first man to officially break the sound barrier aboard an airplane. Baumgartner plans to travel faster than the speed of sound with only the benefit of a high-tech suit. New generation of spacesuits? Any contact with the capsule on his exit could tear the pressurized suit. A rip could expose him to a lack of oxygen and temperatures as low as 70 degrees below zero. It could cause potentially lethal bubbles to form in his bodily fluids, a condition known as "boiling blood." Daredevil's skydiving attempt now set for Sunday Clark is a NASA space shuttle crew surgeon who lost his wife, Laurel Clark, in the 2003 Columbia accident. No one knows what happens to a body when it breaks the sound barrier, Clark said. Winds have to be under 2 MPH for Baumgartner to start his ascent to the stratosphere from this desert town better known as the site of a rumored UFO landing in 1947. Jumping from more than three times the height of the average cruising altitude for jetliners, Baumgartner's expects to hit a speed of 690 mph or more before he activates his parachute at 9,500 feet above sea level, or about 5,000 feet above the ground in southeastern New Mexico. The total jump should take about 10 minutes. The energy drink maker Red Bull, which is sponsoring the feat, has been promoting a live Internet stream of the event from nearly 30 cameras on the capsule, the ground and a helicopter. But organizers said there will be a 20-second delay in their broadcast of footage in case of a tragic accident. After the jump, Baumgartner says he plans to settle down with his girlfriend and fly helicopters on mountain rescue and firefighting missions in the U.S. and Austria.
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