Space Shuttle Endeavor’s rocket motor arrives at California Science Center – The Hollywood Reporter

Solid rocket motor arrives at California Science Center

Carolyn Giardina/THR Staff

Eleven years after Space Shuttle Endeavor made the 12-mile journey across the streets of Los Angeles, the Space Shuttle Endeavor returned to California on Wednesday after making the journey from Mojave Air and Space Port, where the two giant solid rocket motors (SRMs) were stored. We arrived at the science center. .

The crowd of school children, residents and guests cheered and shouted “Shuttle!” shuttle! ” – Lined the streets of Inglewood, California for the arrival ceremony.

The California Science Center is building the new 20-story Samuel Oshin Aerospace Center, which will be Endeavor’s permanent home. The shuttle appears in its launch position along with his SRMs, each 116 feet long. A pair of Solid Rocket Roosters (SRB). and a 65,000-pound external fuel tank.

The SRM, donated by aerospace and defense technology company Northrop Grumman, is the last element to arrive at the science center. They will be on display at the site for the next few weeks until they are moved to the space center, which is under construction. Endeavor will remain on display until the end of the year, and is expected to move into a new building in early 2024.

The California Science Center Foundation is actively fundraising to complete the 200,000-square-foot aerospace center and has raised $350 million of its $400 million goal. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2022, and the center is expected to be completed in 2025.

“It is the children themselves who will inspire the next generation,” said Science Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rudolph. hollywood reporter on the route. “We’re very excited that the Space Shuttle parts are actually here. … We still have a lot of work ahead of us to lift this and put it in the launch position and finish the surrounding buildings.” But this is a big step.”

Former NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley was happy to see his children excited about the space program.

“These are real flight booster segments. I think there are parts here that were on my first flight,” Hurley said. He flew Endeavor during the Space Shuttle program and was the commander of the test flight of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft in 2020. “We want to start flying Artemis, go back to the moon, and hopefully someday go to Mars,” he said, referring to the upcoming Artemis mission to the moon, scheduled for 2025. space. “

Councilor Reginald Jones-Sawyer added that bringing Endeavor to the science center was a “labor of love”. “The science center’s decision to not only bring the shuttle here, but to take the next step so that all the kids, not just in South Los Angeles but all over the world, can actually see it. I’m very proud of what we’ve done. It’s like pre-launch.”

Many members of Hollywood’s SciTech community have been following Endeavor’s journey to Los Angeles for years. Disney Imagineering’s Rob Engle arrived early this morning to get a glimpse of SRM. He said, “We saw the space shuttle take off into Los Angeles and we were standing on the roof of one of the Academy buildings. [SciTech Awards] “After the meeting, we all took a break to watch the space shuttle fly overhead,” he recalled. “It’s very moving to see the fruits of all these years of space travel.”

SRM makes up the majority of SRB. During the Space Shuttle program, his twin 15-story SRB fired in conjunction with the Space Shuttle’s main engines, producing over 6 million pounds of thrust. This is most of the thrust needed to lift the shuttle off the launch pad. After burning out, the SRB is dumped into the ocean, recovered, refurbished, and reused.