I remembered when the Space Shuttle Endeavour flew over the Los Angeles Basin back in 2012 and the days that followed the event. The whole city watched as the Endeavour made its 12 mile road trip from Los Angeles Airport to its final resting place at the California Science Center.

The weather was perfect in Santa Monica that September day for my family and me to see the Endeavour piggybacked on a Boeing 747. They were escorted by two military T-38 Talon jets as they conducted low-level flyover(s) by Palisades Park and the Santa Monica Pier. My husband and I pulled our older child out of preschool mid-day just in time to view this once-in-a-lifetime experience. You can read more about my experience here. After the first flyover, our child returned to school. What we didn’t know was that the Endeavour would loop back, returning a second time to Santa Monica, so that the crowds can once again see it overhead.

My family and I have made countless visits to the California Science Center, specifically for the Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibit, during the past three-and-a-half years. This time around, our second child was old enough to actually be interested in viewing it, so we scheduled a field trip to Exposition Park with other families with preschool children during Spring Break so that they can view and appreciate this fine example of machinery (an understatement, of course).

It still takes my breath away…

I never noticed this before…

Nor this…

But I have seen this model replica of the planned Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, a 188,000 square foot addition to the California Science Center’s main building. The vision is for this building to adjoin the existing exhibits and galleries on the Science Center campus in 2019. Click here to read more about the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center and the EndeavourLA Campaign.

Admission to the California Science Center is free; however, there is a $2 exhibit fee to actually view the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Money spent well, I say.

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California Science Center
700 Exposition Park Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90037
http://californiasciencecenter.org/

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