The California Science Center was honored with a special gift today. The museum right near the USC campus will be home to the Endeavor Space Shuttle.
The announcement came on the same day as the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch. The museum will pay $28.8 million to claim the shuttle, which was largely built in Southern California. The shuttle will be the focus of a new air and space gallery, which will cost about $200 million.
The NASA space program will officially end this summer, and today, NASA announced where four of the retired shuttles will permanently take residence.
California Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph talks about the significance of the space shuttle's arrival to the L.A. museum. (Video by: Alia Delpassand)
The space shuttle Atlantis will end up at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Discovery will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York will claim the Enterprise shuttle. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the final homes for these shuttles at a ceremony today at the Kennedy Center.
California Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph said after the announcement he believed the arrival of Endeavor would help increase the museum’s yearly attendance from 1.4 million to about two million.
More than 20 locations were bidding for one of the shuttles.
The shuttle’s final flight will be on April 29. Capt. Mark E. Kelly will be the commander. Kelly is the wife of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who was seriously injured in a shooting in Tucson in January.
