When the space shuttle Endeavour leaves its current home at a United Airlines hanger at Los Angeles International Airport at 6 a.m. on Oct. 12 for a 12-mi trip to its final destination at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, hundreds of hours of work will be on display, above and below, along the route.
The $200-million project (dubbed Mission 26 by the center; the shuttle flew 25 missions into space since 1992) is part of the center’s 25-year capital improvement plan that includes the permanent home of the newly-retired space shuttle in a new building, the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which is currently in the design phase (Zimmer Gunsul Frasca is the design architect; EHDD is the executive architect) with a planned 2017 opening.