New gallery featuring Space Shuttle Endeavour opens at California Science Center in Los Angeles
The new expansion at the California Science Center in Exposition featuring the space shuttle Endeavour has officially opened on Friday morning.
The newly finished Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center has been decades in the making and nearly doubles the museum's exhibit space.
One of the $450 million expansion's most anticipated features is the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery. According to the museum, it is the only place in the world where the public can visit the space shuttle Endeavour in launch position.
The new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is split into three main galleries, including the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
The opening of the new gallery was marked by a special program featuring about 30 astronauts, including the six-member crew of Endeavour's final mission.
The expansion, which has been decades in the making, offers multi-level galleries, rare aerospace artifacts and immersive exhibits.
The Endeavour, which was retired in 2012 after its 25th and final mission, stands nearly 200 feet tall in launch position. The shuttle made its way through the streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center in October 2012.
The shuttle was on display for years along with the ET-94, the last remaining flight-qualified external tank. In 2022, construction began on a new 200-foot-high building at the space center that would house the orbiter and tank upright.
