The Space Shuttle Endeavour, which took astronauts into orbit 25 times, went on display at the California Science Center on its final mission Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The orbiter,\u00a0built to replace the ill-fated Challenger which exploded in 1986, stands as the centerpiece of a new exhibition that will open in November at the Los Angeles institution.<\/p>\n
This “will be the only place in the world to see a complete authentic space shuttle system,” said Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center.<\/p>\n
The shuttle — the height of a 20-story building — is being displayed in its upright launch position, attached to two solid rocket boosters and the ET-94 external tank, a massive, pointed orange cylinder that held the fuel and oxidizer used to propel the spacecraft into orbit.<\/p>\n
“It’s large, it’s very complicated, but we wanted people to understand,” Kenneth E. Phillips, a curator at the California Science Center, told AFP.<\/p>\n
“This is an opportunity to see it very up close and personal.”<\/p>\n
Visitors will be able to take an elevator up the access tower to reach the area where the crew entered the shuttle.<\/p>\n
Higher up, they will be able to stand on a glass floor and look down into the inner workings of the spacecraft.<\/p>\n
Endeavour, built using recycled parts from its older siblings \u2014 the shuttles Discovery and Atlantis \u2014 spent a total of 299 days in space across 25 successful missions carried out between 1992 and 2011.<\/p>\n
Its final mission was commanded by Mark Kelly, now a Democratic senator from Arizona and a frequent antagonist of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
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