Endeavour Ready for Its Final Flight

Officials at NASA say that final preparations are underway to deliver the space shuttle Endeavour to the California Science Center (CSS), near Los Angeles. A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will be used to deliver the spacecraft from Florida.

Currently, the orbiter is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 20. It is the final shuttle to be moved from Florida, since Discovery is already installed in its hangar at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, in Washington, and Atlantis will remain at the Kennedy Space Center.

The SCA, carrying Endeavour, will depart the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility on September 17. It will not head out directly, but rather perform a series of flights over several objects, including the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Patrick Air Force Base, and the KSC Visitor Complex.

Once it lands in Los Angeles, on September 20, the shuttle will be placed inside a hangar where it will undergo its final preparations before being permanently displayed. It will reach the CSS on October 13.