Time-Lapse Film of the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s Final Journey Through the Narrow Streets of Los Angeles

Res­i­dents of Los Ange­les had a once-in-a-life­time oppor­tu­ni­ty last week to see the Space Shut­tle Endeav­or crawl through the streets of their city. It was a sur­re­al sight. Some folks could even look out their liv­ing-room win­dow and see a mas­sive space ship rolling by.

The recent­ly decom­mis­sioned shut­tle arrived in Los Ange­les on Sep­tem­ber 20, pig­gy­backed on top of a Boe­ing 747. Last thurs­day it embarked on an ardu­ous 12-mile jour­ney to its new home at the Cal­i­for­nia Sci­ence Cen­ter, where it will go on pub­lic dis­play begin­ning Octo­ber 30. It took three days to make the trip from the air­port to Expo­si­tion Park as the 85-ton orbiter, with a wingspan of 78 feet, was guid­ed though a num­ber of extreme­ly tight spots atop a com­put­er-con­trolled trans­porter oper­at­ed by NASA. The shut­tle arrived at the sci­ence cen­ter with­out a scratch on Sun­day. The whole oper­a­tion cost about $10 mil­lion.