posted 10-10-2014 01:40 AM               

"In an extremely unusual move, the Smithsonian allowed us to remove several parts from [shuttle] Discovery at the National Air and Space Museum to support our payload installation," Dennis Jenkins, the CSC's project director for Endeavour's future display, said.

posted 10-10-2014 09:13 AM               

Here are two new photos shared by Dennis Jenkins:

posted 10-15-2014 11:02 AM               

If the ultimate intent is to mount the shuttle stack vertically for display, with the payload bay doors closed, what's the point of installing all this hardware where nobody will ever see it again? Wouldn't it be better to have the Spacehab as a separate exhibit at the museum?

If they plan to display it vertically with the payload bay doors open, wouldn't that be odd? Unless they're planning a mockup of the Rotating Service Structure around that area?

posted 10-15-2014 01:07 PM            

There wasn't a more impressive and glorious sight than the full orbiter stack. Count me on the side that wishes it would be historically accurate. As others have said, it's easy to represent the payload bay in separate displays, thus completing the educational aspect.

posted 10-16-2014 11:04 AM               

The module placed inside Endeavour is empty; the module on display next to the orbiter is outfitted with lockers and equipment support hardware as it last flew on STS-118.

posted 10-21-2014 08:18 PM               

Space shuttle Endeavour doors shut after cargo loaded for launch-like display (photos)

Three weeks after they were opened for the first time in three years, space shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay doors were closed on Tuesday (Oct. 21) to await the next phase of the retired NASA winged orbiter's museum display.

The California Science Center (CSC) in Los Angeles successfully closed out its "Go for Payload" activities by again sealing the shuttle's 60-foot-long (18-meter) bay doors that were designed to be opened and closed only in space. Until one of the doors is next opened in 2018, they will hide from view the reason they were briefly opened now — Endeavour's newly-added payload.

posted 05-28-2015 06:00 AM               

NASA's last space shuttle external tank to complete Endeavour L.A. exhibit

It's a sight no one thought possible again: a complete NASA space shuttle – the winged orbiter, twin rocket boosters and a massive external tank, all authentic hardware – standing vertical as if the vehicle was about to blast off for space.

But come 2018, that's exactly what the California Science Center will be able to display, thanks to a newly-revealed agreement by NASA to donate its last remaining fuel tank built to launch the space shuttle.

"The ability to preserve an entire stack of flight hardware will make the [center's new] Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center an even more compelling educational experience," said Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, in an interview with collectSPACE. "It will allow future generations to experience and understand the science and engineering of the space shuttle."

The orange-brown tank, which will be transported by barge from New Orleans to California via the Panama Canal and then moved overland through the streets of Los Angeles, will be stacked with NASA's retired orbiter Endeavour and a pair of boosters that were obtained earlier.

posted 05-28-2015 12:14 PM               

"The more we delved into engineering the vertical stack using replica parts, the more we realized it was going to be a huge engineering challenge to design and, even more importantly, verify the load paths would meet all of the seismic requirements and correctly support Endeavour."

"As we discussed it with our building engineer and engineers from Boeing it became obvious that using a complete flight hardware stack would simplify the verification effort since NASA already knew the loads all of the vehicle components were certified for. As long as the seismic requirements were completely enveloped by the certified flight loads, we were good."

posted 01-02-2016 04:38 PM               

Three Nights, Three Days: Endeavour's Journey Through Los Angeles

"Three Nights, Three Days: Endeavour's Journey Through Los Angeles" chronicles the feat of engineering required to transport the retired Space Shuttle Endeavour throughout the streets of Los Angeles in 2012 when the California Science Center in Los Angeles won the bid to become the shuttle's new home. The documentary film follows the shuttle's final journey to its permanent home at the Science Center's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, where it will inspire future generations of scientists, innovators and engineers.

The 23-minute documentary by director Paul Bozymowski takes a behind-the-scenes look at the monumental feat of moving a 150,000-pound national treasure through 14 miles of urban, public streets, During its 68-hour journey through mostly underserved neighborhoods, more than a million people lined Endeavour's route, uniting communities, re-igniting an interest in space exploration and motivating a new generation of students to pursue science learning.

posted 03-03-2016 04:15 AM               

NASA's last space shuttle external tank to cross oceans, L.A. streets for display

NASA's last surviving external tank built to launch the space shuttle is about to embark on its final mission, but instead of rocketing to orbit, the fuel tank will travel by road and ocean to join a retired orbiter on display.

The California Science Center, which last May announced it was receiving NASA's External Tank 94 (ET-94) to mate with the space shuttle Endeavour for a new vertical launch pad-like exhibit to open in 2019, has now set the route and dates for the orange-brown tank's move from New Orleans to Los Angeles.

The journey, which will see the external tank pass through the Panama Canal and navigate the streets of L.A., comes almost three and a half years after Endeavour arrived atop a NASA jumbo jet and completed a similar road trip to the Science Center.

"It is another really significant move and it is another really significant piece of the shuttle," Jeff Rudolph, the Science Center's president and CEO, said in an exclusive interview with collectSPACE. "It's an incredibly historic artifact, being the last of its kind."

posted 04-05-2016 05:50 PM               

A new virtual reality experience has been released as part of the ongoing EndeaVR Project. All-volunteer Hollywood production teams are capturing various views and aspects of the space shuttle Endeavour using state-of-the-art VR camera and post-production technologies.

The new clip was produced by WeVR and is now available on Samsung’s MilkVR site for playback in GearVR headsets. The clip will also play in 2D with most browsers such as Chrome.

posted 04-11-2016 12:00 AM               

Last NASA space shuttle external tank set for LA to L.A. sea voyage

A last-of-its-kind, very large artifact from NASA's space shuttle program is set to leave New Orleans this week on an almost 40-day ocean voyage to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal.

The remaining external tank built to fuel a space shuttle's launch into Earth orbit was rolled down a one mile-long (1.6 km) road and onto a barge on Sunday (April 10), two days ahead of its scheduled departure from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

posted 04-11-2016 05:57 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by pupnik:
Where will they actually be keeping the ET until the exhibit is ready?

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posted 04-13-2016 05:40 AM               

Last flight-qualified space shuttle external tank sets sail for California museum

NASA's last-existing, built-for-flight space shuttle external tank was launched Tuesday (Apr. 12) on a 40-day sea voyage from New Orleans to Los Angeles, 35 years to the day after the first such tank fueled the maiden flight of the iconic winged spacecraft.

Secured atop an open-air, flatbed barge, the 154-foot-long (47 m) orange-brown tank left the dock at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, beginning its journey to the California Science Center for display with the retired space shuttle Endeavour.

And for more photos, see:

ET-94 sets sail: NASA's last space shuttle external tank leaves NOLA

"Today is a milestone in history for Michoud and also for the space shuttle program. We bid farewell to NASA's last flight-certified external tank," said Bobby Watkins, director of the Michoud Assembly Facility. "It's hard to say goodbye but we know it is receiving the proper recognition by going to the California Science Center."

posted 04-25-2016 12:57 PM               

Last flight-qualified space shuttle external tank crosses Panama Canal

A giant space shuttle fuel tank made for an unusual sight Monday (April 25) at the Panama Canal.

The 154-foot-long (47 meter) external tank, riding atop an uncovered flatbed barge, entered the famous waterway on its journey to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where will be displayed with NASA's retired space shuttle Endeavour.

And for more photos, see:

Crossing oceans: Photos show shuttle external tank at Panama Canal

The fifth space shuttle external tank to cross the Panama Canal – and the first to do so on an open-air barge — ET-94 is scheduled to take another 17 to 20 days to arrive at Marina del Rey in California.

posted 04-25-2016 07:41 PM               

According to Space Shuttle Flight Info, by Lockheed Martin, January 1997, there were four tanks delivered to Vandenberg before they were re-delivered to KSC: ET-23, ET-27, ET-33 and ET-34; ET-33 was delivered to VAFB after January 1986.

ET-23 was used on STS-27R; ET-27 on STS-34; ET-33 on STS-36; and ET-34 on the following flight, STS-31R.

posted 04-25-2016 07:45 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by OV-105:
Or is this the fifth time a tank has used the Panama Locks?

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Four previous external tanks, ETs 23, 27, 33 and 34, traveled by covered barge to California in the early 1980s, when plans existed for a shuttle launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

posted 05-14-2016 08:06 AM               

Space shuttle external tank bound for L.A. museum plays role in sea rescue

The crew of a sunken fishing boat has a space shuttle external tank to thank for their rescue.

Three Americans and one Mexican were on the Maximus, a charter fishing boat, when it sank off the coast of Baja California on Thursday (May 12). Fortunately, its crew was able to make it safely onto a life raft to await the next ship to come along and pluck them out of the Pacific Ocean.

As it just so happened, that next vessel was the Shannon Dann, the towboat transporting NASA's last existing flight-qualified space shuttle external tank (ET) for the California Science Center.