Space shuttle on the move: Science Center prepares Endeavour for `liftoff’

The retired space shuttle Endeavour external tank, ET-94, the last flight-qualified liquid hydrogen external tank, left, is ready to be brought into a 20-story vertical display at the California Science Center’s Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles. Two external booster rockets Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) are seen right. The ET-94 empty weight is 65,000 pounds, (29484 kg). (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LOS ANGELES – Thirteen years after its retirement, the space shuttle Endeavour will be preparing for liftoff again yesterday as California Science Center crews slowly move the orbiter across Exposition Park so it can be hoisted into the air and placed into an upright, launch-ready display.

With the help of a “self-propelled modular transporter,” the 122-foot-long shuttle will be moved to a position adjacent to the under-construction Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which will ultimately house
the one-of-a-kind shuttle display.

The other elements of the display – two solid rocket boosters and a 65,000-pound external fuel tank known as ET-94 – are already in place, awaiting the arrival of the shuttle. Although Endeavour will be moved into position at the construction site Friday, it is not scheduled to be lifted into place until late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, weather permitting.

‘That move will require the use of a 450-foot-tall crane, which will lift the orbiter over the under-construction walls of the Samuel Oschin center, then lower it next to the boosters and fuel tank to complete the “Go For Stack” process of assembling the vertical display.

The 154-foot-long ET-94 fuel tank was moved into place earlier this month, after several delays caused by high winds that stalled efforts to lift the massive equipment into the air. It was eventually set in place next to the 149-foot-tall twin rocket boosters. ET-94 is the last remaining flight-qualified external tank in existence.

The Endeavour shuttle had been on display horizontally at the Science Center for more than a decade. Public access to the shuttle, however, ended on Dec. 31 so preparations could begin for its eventual move to the new exhibit, which will be the only launch-ready display of a former NASA space shuttle in the world.

The shuttle launch display will be the centerpiece of the 200,000- square-foot Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which will nearly double the Science Center’s educational exhibition space. The building will include three multi-level galleries, themed for air, space and shuttle. The new facility will also house an events and exhibit center that will be home to large-scale rotating exhibitions.

An opening date for the $400 million center has not yet been determined. (CNS)