The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is a 200,000-square-foot addition to the museum and space shuttle Endeavour\u2019s new, permanent home.<\/p>\n
According to officials, it\u2019ll be the only place in the world where guests can see a complete, authentic space shuttle system displayed in launch position \u2014 just like it would look before it blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n
Endeavour spans about 20 stories tall in the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, one of three main galleries that will be filled with hands-on exhibits and authentic aerospace artifacts<\/a>. The center will be free to visit.<\/p>\n Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, told LAist the upcoming opening is a dream that\u2019s been decades in the making.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sense of wonder and inspiration is exactly what we dreamed could happen, and so far, everyone that comes in we see that \u2026 the tears, the exclamations, it’s just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n \n The California Science Center\u2019s expansion in Exposition Park will be open to the public on Nov. 13, officials announced Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n \n Endeavour spans about 20 stories tall in the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery\n <\/p>\n Preparing for the public<\/p>\n The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center finished construction around Endeavour earlier this year, after each of the space shuttle components were lifted into place in the construction zone.<\/p>\n The roughly six-month process of attaching the flown orbiter \u2014 Endeavour \u2014 to twin solid rocket boosters<\/a> and the last remaining flight-qualified external tank<\/a> was called \u201cGo For Stack<\/a>.\u201d Museum officials said the complex process had never been done outside of a NASA facility.<\/p>\n The space shuttle has been hidden from public view<\/a> for more than two years since Endeavour reached for the stars one last time in the \u201cGo For Stack\u201d mission \u2014 at least until now.<\/p>\n \n The space shuttle Endeavour “soft-mated” in its permanent ready-to-launch position in the construction zone for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.\n <\/p>\n \n People watch as Endeavour orbiter is being lowered into its ready-to-launch from the construction zone for the new building.\n <\/p>\n \n A close-up of the orbiter as its slowly but surely lowered into its “Go For Stack” position next to the external tank and twin solid rocket boosters.\n <\/p>\n Before walking into the shuttle gallery, guests will be shown a short film about Endeavour\u2019s history made in conjunction with J.J. Abrams\u2019 production company Bad Robot. As the space shuttle starts launching in the film, mist fills the room and the screen rises to reveal the real star of the show \u2014 Endeavour.<\/p>\n As its name suggests, Endeavour is the centerpiece of the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery. It was the last gallery to be unveiled by the California Science Center, months after offering sneak peeks of the Korean Air Aviation Gallery<\/a> and Kent Kresa Space Gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n The shuttle gallery shows how the first reusable spacecraft helped humans live and work beyond Earth\u2019s surface in low orbit, according to the museum. Officials said it preserves a critical part of space exploration \u2014 Endeavour was the last orbiter to join the shuttle fleet, traveling more than 122 million miles on over two dozen missions.<\/p>\n Guests can see the space shuttle stack from several levels and angles, including the thermal tiles on Endeavour\u2019s underbelly, the NASA logo on the side and looking up underneath the engines.<\/p>\n With Endeavour in vertical launch position, guests can see all the intricate details of the space shuttle, including the engines and thermal tiles that protected it when it came back through Earth’s atmosphere.<\/p>\n John \u201cDanny\u201d Olivas, a former NASA astronaut who flew on Atlantis<\/a> and Discovery<\/a>, told LAist the shuttle program ushered in an era of space exploration that America had never seen before. He said it was an era of inclusion and diversity that brought the first Black astronaut, the first Hispanic astronaut and the first women in space, to name a few.<\/p>\n \u201cIt opened up the eyes of the American public that all of us can participate in this, you know, this wonderful endeavor of space exploration for the betterment of all humanity,\u201d Olivas said.<\/p>\n Beyond the historical significance, it\u2019s designed to inspire the next generation of explorers, scientists and engineers by offering “unparalleled” views of the space shuttle, according to the museum. In fact, Rudolph said guests get an even better view of Endeavour in the gallery than when it was on the launchpad surrounded by platforms and equipment.<\/p>\n Olivas said it\u2019s also a homecoming for Endeavour \u2014 the space shuttle was assembled in Palmdale with the “hard work and effort of Southern Californians.”<\/p>\n John “Danny” Olivas, a former NASA astronaut who flew on two shuttles Atlantis and Discovery, encouraged future visitors to pay attention to all of Endeavour’s details, from the nuts to insulation and everything in between.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain to be active in space exploration,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s not just about seven astronauts climbing aboard and going off into low Earth orbit or to the moon, but in fact, all the hundreds of thousands people that it takes to actually make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The finishing touches<\/p>\n The California Science Center still has a lot of work to do before the first guests walk into the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in around five months.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782386383_716_.jpeg\")
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