Blue skies greet Endeavour, SCA at Edwards landing

The Endeavour’s flyover of Edwards AFB prior to landing

A familiar sight appeared in the clear blue skies of the Mojave Desert as the space shuttle Endeavour and its modified NASA 747 carrier aircraft arrived at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 20.

After a spectacular low-level flyover of Edwards’ flight line and housing areas, the piggyback pair touched down on Runway 22L at 12:50 p.m., PDT.

Following an overnight stay, the SCA and Endeavour will salute the Antelope Valley area early Sept. 21 with a low flyby over the communities of Palmdale, Lancaster, Rosamond and Mojave before heading north to Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Several low-level flyovers in the Sacramento and San Francisco areas during the mid-morning period, including the State Capitol in Sacramento, some of the San Francisco area landmarks and museums including the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Chabot Space and Science Center, Exploratorium and the Lawrence Hall of Science.

The Endeavour on display for NASA Dryden employees and family members after landing.

Next the aircraft will travel south, making a pass over NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Monterey Bay Aquarium near Santa Cruz and Monterey and Vandenberg Air Force as it heads into the Los Angeles area.

Air Force photograph by Jet Fabara

NASA’s modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft carries the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it lands at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on Sept. 20, 2012, completing the fourth leg of its ferry flight to its new home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

After arriving in the Los Angeles area, flyovers of the SCA-Endeavour combo are expected to occur over several landmarks during the late morning hours, weather and operational considerations permitting. Among regional landmarks targeted for flyovers are the California Science Center, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Getty Center, Griffith Observatory, Disneyland and Malibu, among others.

Finally, the SCA and Endeavour will land about noon PDT at Los Angeles International Airport, for an arrival ceremony before Endeavour is taken off the 747 and transported to its permanent home at the California Science Center next month.

The exact timing and path of the ferry flight is depending on local weather conditions and operational constraints. Some planned flyovers or stopovers could be delayed or canceled.

NASA Social attendees experienced the landing as part of a two-day slate of activities at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards. The events focused on Dryden’s contributions to the Space Shuttle Program, guest speakers and a look at NASA’s future.

The SCA and Endeavour left Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility Sept. 19 on the first leg of its final cross-country ferry flight and flew over areas of the Space Coast, including Kennedy, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base before heading across the south on it way to an overnight stop at Ellington Field in Houston near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. After departing Ellington this morning, it headed to Biggs Army Airfield at El Paso, Texas for refueling and a flight crew change, and then began the third leg of the four-segment final ferry flight to Edwards, detouring for flyovers of the White Sands Test Facility and Missile Range and Tucson, Ariz., en route.

After Endeavour is separated from the 747 and preparations are complete, it will be moved over city streets Oct. 12-13 to the California Science Center in Los Angeles for permanent display.