{"id":631365,"date":"2026-09-21T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/631365\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T12:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:00:10","slug":"orlando-sentinel-150-monday-memory-of-space-shuttle-endeavours-piggyback-final-flight-from-florida-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/631365\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Sentinel 150: Monday Memory of Space Shuttle Endeavour\u2019s piggyback final flight from Florida \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourteen years ago, Space Shuttle Endeavour left Kennedy Space Center on its way to its new home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Riding atop NASA\u2019s modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, the orbiter took off from Kennedy\u2019s Shuttle Landing Facility in the early morning of Sept. 19, 2012, the last time a shuttle would be ferried from one place to another \u2014 the last flight, so to speak, of the Space Shuttle Program.<\/p>\n

Orlando Sentinel photographer Joe Burbank caught an amazing photo of the final flight over the Magic Kingdom\u2019s Space Mountain as the sun was rising, while then staff photographer Red Huberr, now retired, photographed Endeavour\u2019s departure from the Space Coast.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe NASA 747 ferrying the Space Shuttle Endeavour gains altitude as it is seen passing over the spires of Space Mountain at sunrise, in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel File)<\/p>\n

Discovery had already made its way to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum\u2019s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington and Atlantis was staying home for eventual display at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.<\/p>\n

Endeavour, the fifth operational orbiter of the shuttle program after Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis, had its first space flight on STS-49 launching from Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 1992. It flew on its final mission, STS-134, from May 16-June 1, 2011, the penultimate space flight of the Space Shuttle Program ahead of Atlantis\u2019 STS-135 mission two months later.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A modified 747 jumbo jet carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour piggyback on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 makes one last past of the shuttle runway as it leaves the Kennedy Space Center headed for California. (Red Huber\/Orlando Sentinel File)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A modified 747 jumbo jet carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour piggyback on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 departs Florida on its last flight ever headed for California. (Red Huber\/Orlando Sentinel File)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A modified 747 jumbo jet carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour piggyback takes off on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 from Kennedy Space Center on its last flight ever going to its new home California. (Red Huber\/Orlando Sentinel File)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A modified 747 jumbo jet carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour piggyback on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 makes one last past of the shuttle runway as it leaves the Kennedy Space Center headed for California. (Red Huber\/Orlando Sentinel File)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A modified 747 jumbo jet carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour piggyback on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 departs Florida on its last flight ever headed for California. (Red Huber\/Orlando Sentinel File)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

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A modified 747 jumbo jet carrying Space Shuttle Endeavour piggyback on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 makes one last past of the shuttle runway as it leaves the Kennedy Space Center headed for California. (Red Huber\/Orlando Sentinel File)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Endeavour flew 25 missions, carrying 173 crew members and traveling more than 122 million miles.<\/p>\n

It made its public debut at the California Science Center on Oct. 30, 2012 at a temporary display, but is awaiting the official opening of the center\u2019s newly constructed Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, set to debut Nov. 13.<\/p>\n

Within the building, Endeavour is mounted vertically with an external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters and with one of the orbiter\u2019s payload bay doors open. The 200,000-square-foot expansion allows for a full 20-story display of the shuttle in its launch position.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace Shuttle Endeavour captivated millions during its flight from Florida and around California and then its historic overland journey from LAX to the California Science Center in 2012,\u201d said the center\u2019s president and CEO Jeffrey Rudolph. \u201cIt then went on to inspire millions more while on display for more than a decade. With its display of Endeavour in launch position, the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will give us a greater platform than ever to accomplish our mission, to stimulate curiosity and inspire science learning in everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

More stories and features from the Orlando Sentinel\u2019s 150 years of covering Central Florida can be found at OrlandoSentinel.com\/150<\/a>. Sign up for our free history newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com\/newsletters<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Want more Orlando history? Buy a copy of the Orlando Sentinel\u2019s 150th anniversary book with 150 front pages from our 150 years.\u00a0Get it OrlandoSentinel.com\/150yearsbook<\/a> and see more anniversary merchandise at OrlandoSentinel.com\/150yearsmerch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fourteen years ago, Space Shuttle Endeavour left Kennedy Space Center on its way to its new home at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[267986,61,60,6492,1529,43,267987,82,1603,247],"class_list":["post-631365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-flashbacks","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orlando-sentinel-150","tag-science","tag-social","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}