NASA photographers’ Endeavour ferry flight images to debut at new Los Angeles exhibit

NASA photographers based at Armstrong Flight Research Center documented space shuttle Endeavour’s final ferry flight atop the agency’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft on Sept. 21, 2012, and the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will show those images when it opens at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 13, 2026.

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center opens to visitors on Nov. 13 as a $450 million project and the third and final phase of the California Science Center’s three-decade master plan. The 200,000-square-foot addition nearly doubles exhibition space and contains 100 aerospace artifacts and 100 hands-on exhibits focused on science and engineering.

Endeavour rode atop a NASA-modified Boeing 747 for its final ferry flight to Los Angeles. Two photographers and one videographer led preparations and chose California flight destinations, while agency pilots mapped a route over landmarks including Dodger Stadium, the Getty Center, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and the Santa Monica Pier. NASA Armstrong F/A-18s and an F-15 escorted Endeavour and carried photo and video teams in their back seats.

Lori Losey, lead videographer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, said chasing the final ferry flight over Southern California was a leading highlight of her 37-year NASA career. “Chasing Endeavour’s final ferry flight over Southern California was, without a doubt, a leading highlight of my 37-year career at NASA,” Losey said.

Jim Ross, NASA Armstrong’s lead photographer, said the most fun part was seeing excitement among people on the ground as the aircraft flew over Griffith Park and Disneyland. Carla Thomas said a standing-room-only crowd below the California State Capitol in Sacramento filled her with pride, and she recalled planning the route with the Los Angeles Police Department, including checking the Hollywood sign area for power lines and radio antennas.

Endeavour was the fifth and final orbiter to join NASA’s space shuttle fleet and was built to replace Challenger after the 1986 disaster. It flew 25 missions beginning in May 1992, when crew members performed a spacewalk to grab a stranded satellite so crews could fix it and fly it again. The orbiter helped start International Space Station assembly by carrying its first components into orbit, flew on the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission in 1993, and supported station assembly and maintenance across 12 missions. It completed its final flight, STS-134, in May 2011 before ending service in 2012.

Visitors will see Endeavour vertically with authentic solid rocket boosters and an external tank, which the California Science Center calls the only complete authentic space shuttle system on public display worldwide. Engineers assembled the orbiter for vertical display through a Go for Stack process begun July 20, 2023, and took approximately six months to mate it to the external tank. The stacked 20-story display will be the only ready-to-launch shuttle arrangement in the world based on its staging and look. Guests can take a 140-foot elevator up the launch structure to a viewing platform above the orbiter, attempt a shuttle landing simulator, tour a replica flight deck, and go down a 45-foot slide meant to suggest the orbiter’s fiery return through Earth’s atmosphere.

The Nov. 13 opening event will feature roughly 30 astronauts, including every crew member from Endeavour’s last flight, STS-134, led by Sen. Mark Kelly. Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, called the opening the fulfillment of a decades-long dream. “The opening of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is the fulfillment of a decades-long dream,” Rudolph said. General admission to the California Science Center is free, though timed reservations are strongly encouraged and online bookings carry a $4 service fee.

The California Science Center said the gallery will preserve a critical chapter in space exploration and offer an unparalleled educational experience. “In addition to preserving a critical chapter in space exploration, the gallery will also offer an unparalleled educational experience,” the center said. Samuel Oschin died in 2003, and his widow, Lynda Oschin, leads the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation, a major contributor to the project. Lynda Oschin said the shuttle reflects her husband’s interests in astronomy, mathematics, science, exploration, and supporting young people in reaching their goals.