From orbit to exhibit: Endeavour takes centre stage in new California space showcase

LOS ANGELES, June 25 — The Space Shuttle Endeavour, which took astronauts into orbit 25 times, went on display at the California Science Center on its final mission Wednesday.

The orbiter, built to replace the ill-fated Challenger which exploded in 1986, stands as the centrepiece of a new exhibition that will open in November at the Los Angeles institution.

This “will be the only place in the world to see a complete authentic space shuttle system,” said Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center.

The shuttle – the height of a 20-storey building – is being displayed in its upright launch position, attached to two solid rocket boosters and the ET-94 external tank, a massive, pointed orange cylinder that held the fuel and oxidiser used to propel the spacecraft into orbit.

“It’s large, it’s very complicated, but we wanted people to understand,” Kenneth E. Phillips, a curator at the California Science Center, told AFP.

“This is an opportunity to see it very up close and personal.”

Visitors will be able to take an elevator up the access tower to reach the area where the crew entered the shuttle.

Higher up, they will be able to stand on a glass floor and look down into the inner workings of the spacecraft.

Endeavour, built using recycled parts from its older siblings – the shuttles Discovery and Atlantis – spent a total of 299 days in space across 25 successful missions carried out between 1992 and 2011.

Its final mission was commanded by Mark Kelly, now a Democratic senator from Arizona and a frequent antagonist of President Donald Trump. — AFP