Watch CBS News

Shuttle Endeavour's Tour Of California Set For Friday

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Space Shuttle Endeavour will ride piggyback on a Boeing 747 and make stops at Edwards Air Force base with flyovers in San Francisco, the Peninsula and Sacramento Friday before heading to its new home in Southern California.

The Endeavour had been scheduled to leave Florida on Monday for its final flight before ending up in a Southern California museum. It will now leave on Wednesday making its way across the US arriving in California on Friday.

The Northern California portion of the flyover is expected to begin sometime after 8:30 a.m. Friday, according to a NASA press release. A NASA representative suggested the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Chabot Space and Science Center, Exploratorium and Lawrence Hall of Science as locations for viewing the flyby.

Spectators are also being welcomed to a viewing event at the NASA Ames facility at Moffett Field. The parking lot opens at 6 a.m. with food trucks and guest speakers on the program. People planning on driving to the event are encouraged to register in advance.

Endeavour is the second of NASA's three retired shuttles to head to a museum. It is headed to the California Science Center in Southern California. Discovery landed at the Smithsonian Institution's display hanger in Virginia last spring.

The Endeavour was built to replace the Challenger, which exploded just after take off in 1986. Endeavour flew 25 missions for a total 299 days in space.

Hundreds of trees have been cut or trimmed back along the path that Endeavour will make from LAX to the California Science Center in Exposition Park.

A public ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 13 to welcome the shuttle to the Science Center.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.