Photo Gallery: Space Shuttle Endeavour Takes Its Final Flight
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Space shuttle Endeavour is moved into the Shuttle Mate-Demate Device at Kennedy Space Center (Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
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Endeavour is seen atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at Kennedy Space Center, Sept. 18, 2012. (Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
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Endeavour is ferried over the Kennedy Space Center as it departs for California, September 19, 2012. (Photo credit: NASA/ Robert Markowitz)
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Endeavour gets a lift over Houston on its way to Los Angeles, California, September 19, 2012. (Photo Credit: NASA/ Sheri Locke)
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Endeavour rests at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas before departing for California, September 19, 2012. (Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Stafford)
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Endeavour rests at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas before departing for California, September 19, 2012. (Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Stafford)
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Endeavour lands at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California, Sept. 20, 2012. (Photo Credit: NASA/Tom Tschida)
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Early Wednesday morning, space shuttle Endeavour took its final flight atop a jumbo jet at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. For three days, the shuttle rode piggyback to Los Angeles, California where it will begin its next mission as an educational display at the California Science Center.
Earlier this year, two other retired shuttles dazzled crowds below as they made their way from Florida to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City. DC residents experienced a special treat as Space Shuttle Discovery did a lap across the nation’s capital.
After making a few honorary stops in Houston and El Paso, Texas, Endeavour was flown to Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California. Today, it departed Dryden for a flyover of northern California and areas of the Los Angeles basin before making its final landing at the Los Angeles International Airport.
