Some said Downey\u2019s claim to fame is the oldest standing McDonald\u2019s<\/a>, or the Stonewood Mall,<\/a> with some students boasting the rivalry between Downey and Warren high schools<\/a>. Some have also cited the title of the \u201cMexican Beverly Hills,\u201d<\/a> which I and colleague Gustavo Arellano <\/a>have always considered more appropriate for Whittier<\/a>.<\/p>\n What wasn\u2019t mentioned enough about Downey, particularly among the high school-aged students I spoke with, was the city\u2019s ties to the Space Shuttle program. It was somewhat remarkable given the city\u2019s \u201cHome of the Apollo\u201d<\/a> nickname.<\/p>\n Downey\u2019s reputation, especially among its younger residents, may reset soon thanks to a groundbreaking this Monday to announce the latest upgrade to the Columbia Memorial Space Center, a space museum that opened in 2008.<\/p>\n Benjamin Dickow, the center\u2018s president and executive director, spoke with The Times about what to expect Monday and beyond. <\/p>\n What\u2019s happening Monday?<\/p>\n Astronaut Garrett Reisman, former Rockwell International and Boeing employees and area dignitaries will take part in a groundbreaking for an about 40,000-square-foot expansion to the existing museum.<\/p>\n The museum\u2019s centerpiece will be a 122-foot-long, 35-foot-tall Downey-made space shuttle mock-up named the \u201cInspiration,\u201d which is not available yet for public display.<\/p>\n The event begins at 10 a.m., rain or shine, and is located at 12400 Columbia Way in Downey.<\/p>\n For more information, check out https:\/\/www.columbiaspacescience.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n A rendering of the completed front entrance of the museum.<\/p>\n (Nadia Gonzalez, on behalf of the Columbia Memorial Space Center)<\/p>\n Space Center changes and expansion<\/p>\n Dickow said the center was in the middle of completing the first of three phases, to be finished before the L.A. Olympics.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce the major construction really gets going, it\u2019s about an 18-month process,\u201d he said, \u201cbut if something happens with the shuttle, it\u2019s going to add some time.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the first phase began in October 2024, when the partially-covered wood and plastic model was paraded down Bellflower Boulevard<\/a> from a city maintenance yard to a temporary housing unit.<\/p>\n The expansion, known as the Downey Space Shuttle Exhibit and Education Building, would include a new two-story, 29,000-square-foot space shuttle museum, event courtyard, STEM building and courtyard, children\u2019s outdoor classroom, pavilion, lawn and other amenities.<\/p>\n The space shuttle mock-up is also undergoing a \u201cprocess of rehab and refurbishment,\u201d according to Dickow, but is in \u201cgenerally great shape.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe main work is getting it ready for the public, where visitors will be able to enter and get a sense of what it\u2019s like inside a space shuttle,\u201d Dickow said.<\/p>\n Astronauts would typically access the flight deck, mid-deck and crew compartment through a hatch, according to Dickow.<\/p>\n According to renderings, guests will instead enter through a much more accessible stairwell that puts visitors inside a cargo bay.<\/p>\n A rendering of the space shuttle mock-up, dubbed \u201cInspiration,\u201d at its place in the center of the museum expansion.<\/p>\n (Nadia Gonzalez, on behalf of the Columbia Memorial Space Center)<\/p>\n What is the mock-up and what\u2019s its tie to Downey?<\/p>\n The shuttle mock-up\u2019s history with Downey spans decades.<\/p>\n North American Rockwell International, now part of Boeing, built the prototype in 1972 at its Downey facility. The space shuttle became the world\u2019s first reusable winged orbiting spaceship.<\/p>\n In total, 12,000 workers developed and manufactured the shuttle at the program\u2019s peak on a sprawling 120-acre campus.<\/p>\n From April 12, 1981, through July 21, 2011, NASA fleets of shuttles flew<\/a> 135 missions and helped build the International Space Station.<\/p>\n One of those shuttles \u2014 Endeavour \u2014 was hauled into the middle of its future home, the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at Exposition Park,<\/a> in January 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n That museum is also expected to be open before the Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to be something that the L.A. area will be able to show off to people from around the world and I want to make sure we\u2019re a part of that,\u201d Dickow said. \u201cDowney and Southeast L.A. sometimes don\u2019t get a lot of the spotlight and this is something that we\u2019ll be able to put out there.\u201d<\/p>\n The week\u2019s biggest stories Pedestrians cross the street in downtown Los Angeles under light rain on Friday.<\/p>\n (Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n SoCal treads through stormy weatherRebuilding after January firesOpposition to immigration forces in CaliforniaA Sacramento corruption bombshellThe federal fraud case against<\/a> Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s former chief of staff and other well-connected aides is entangled with one of California\u2019s \u2014 and the country\u2019s \u2014 most powerful political circles.Dana Williamson, who joined the governor\u2019s office in early 2023 and departed late last year, was arrested Wednesday<\/a> and faces charges of bank and tax fraud.Explosive Epstein emails about TrumpDonald Trump \u201cknew about the girls\u201d and \u201cspent hours at my house,\u201d Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> wrote in emails.See what\u2019s in the emails<\/a> released by House Democrats on Wednesday.More big storiesThis week\u2019s must-readMore great readsFor your weekend (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inL.A. Timeless<\/p>\n A selection of the very best reads from The Times\u2019 143-year archive.<\/p>\n Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jim Rainey, staff reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I broke into journalism years ago as a fledgling Whittier-based high school sports reporter, one of my…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1091,1088,7,1094,890,1085,891,287,642,1087,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,180,1086,1089,1090,1093,1092,646,688],"class_list":["post-54544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-autopilot","tag-black-bears","tag-california","tag-convictions","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-driver","tag-drought","tag-essential-california-week","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-newsletter","tag-pandemic","tag-search","tag-tesla","tag-thousands","tag-ucla","tag-water","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p>\n
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<\/a> <\/p>\n
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n