Endeavour’s final miles turn into all-night affair
BY AP Wire Service
Monday, October 15, 2012
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It
was supposed to be a slow
but smooth journey to retirement,
a parade through
city streets for a shuttle that
logged millions of miles in
space.
But Endeavour’s final mission
turned out to be a logistical
headache that delayed its
arrival to its museum resting
place by about 17 hours.
After a 12-mile weave past
trees and utility poles that included
thousands of adoring
onlookers, flashing cameras
and even the filming of a TV
commercial, Endeavour arrived
at the California Science
Center on Sunday to a greeting
party of city leaders and
other dignitaries that had expected
it many hours earlier.
Movers had planned a slow
trip, saying the shuttle that
once orbited at more than
17,000 mph would move at
just 2 mph in its final voyage
through Inglewood and
southern Los Angeles.
But that estimate turned
out to be generous, with Endeavour
often creeping along
at a barely detectable pace
when it wasn’t at a dead stop
due to difficult-to-maneuver
obstacles like tree branches
and light posts.
Another delay came in the
early morning hours Sunday
when the shuttle’s remotecontrolled,
160-wheel carrier
began leaking oil.
Despite the holdups, the
team charged with transporting
the shuttle felt a “great
sense of accomplishment”
when it made it onto the museum
grounds, said Jim Hennessy,
a spokesman for Sarens,
the contract mover.
“It’s historic and will be a
great memory,” he said. “Not
too many people will be able
to match that — to say, ‘We
moved the space shuttle
through the streets of Inglewood
and Los Angeles.’ ”
Transporting Endeavour
cross-town was a costly feat
with an estimated price tag
of $10 million, to be paid for
by the science center and private
donations.
At every turn of Endeavour’s
slow-speed commute
through urban streets, spectators
jammed intersections
as the shuttle shuffled past
stores, schools, churches and
front yards through the working-
class streets of southern
Los Angeles. Sidewalks were
off-limits due to Endeavour’s
enormous wingspan.
Associated Images:
The Space Shuttle Endeavour slowly moves down Martin Luther King Blvd. in Los Angeles on Sunday. Endeavour’s 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays. ALEX GALLARDO / Associated Press
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