posted 06-24-2024 09:27 AM               

SpaceX Dragon capsule on display ahead of joining space shuttle L.A. exhibit

What do you do when your star attraction — a retired space shuttle — is under wraps and out of view from the public for the next few years? If you are the California Science Center, you land another spacecraft.

The Los Angeles museum and educational destination on Monday (June 24) announced the addition of a SpaceX Dragon capsule to its collection. The flown cargo vehicle will be displayed with NASA's space shuttle Endeavour in the science center's new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center when that building is complete. Until then, the capsule can be viewed as part of a "Work in Progress" gallery, now open to the public.

posted 06-24-2024 09:48 AM               

Rocket Lab's Electron:

The space shuttle main engine is a better display than before. Nicely lit and you can walk all around it, which you couldn't do before when it was next to Endeavour.

posted 12-17-2024 02:10 PM               

'Work In Progress' Gallery Update

Launched in June 2024, the Work in Progress Gallery offers a sneak peek at new exhibits and space artifacts planned for the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. Large colorful renderings show how space artifacts in the Work in Progress Gallery will look when placed in their new locations alongside hands-on exhibits.

Above: Left to right - Mercury-Redstone 2 capsule, Gemini 11 capsule and Apollo-Soyuz command module. (California Science Center)

December updates to the Work in Progress Gallery include the relocation of the Mercury-Redstone 2 Capsule (1961), the Gemini 11 Capsule (1966), and the Apollo Soyuz Command Module (1975). All three capsules have previously flown to space. A full-scale engineering model of the Viking Lander, the first ever U.S. spacecraft to successfully land on Mars (1976) joined the newly located collection in November.

These artifacts were previously exhibited on the second floor of the Science Center, but their new temporary location provides the rare opportunity to display the capsules to the public outside of their traditional working cases due to the optimal levels of light, temperature, and humidity inside the Work in Progress Gallery.

The Work in Progress Gallery continues to feature exciting video and time-lapse media celebrating important milestones including Space Shuttle Endeavour's historic arrival, the journey of External Tank ET-94, the transport of two solid rocket motors (SRMs), and the stacking process to assemble the complete Space Shuttle System in launch position (Go for Stack); along with time-lapse construction progress, and a detailed scale model of the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.