A poster made by NASA features the space shuttle Endeavour soaring into orbit above the sailing vessel HMS Endeavour, for which it was named. The Cupola, delivered to the International Space Station by Endeavour, frames images from the shuttle's career. Clockwise from top, the first use of a drag chute during landing, rollout to a launch pad, a ferry flight return to Kennedy Space Center, rolling into an orbiter processing facility, docking to the International Space Station, and lifting operations before being mated to an external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. The background image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and signifies the first shuttle servicing mission, which was performed by an Endeavour crew. Crew-designed patches from Endeavour's maiden voyage through its final mission are shown ascending toward the stars.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Amy Lombardo / NASA
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PALMDALE — Apr. 25, 1991: The new $1.8-billion space shuttle Endeavour is rolled out at the Rockwell International facility in Palmdale.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Con Keyes / Los Angeles Times
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PALMDALE — May 1, 1991: Endeavour is mounted on a space shuttle carrier aircraft before being flown to Florida.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: J. Albert Diaz / Los Angeles Times
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PALMDALE — May 2, 1991: Endeavour sits atop a converted 747 awaiting its journey to Florida.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Ken Lubas / Los Angeles Times
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — May 7, 1992: Three replicas of the Christopher Columbus ships, from left, the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa Maria, sail nearby as the space shuttle Endeavour sits on a launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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May 11, 1992: Endeavour astronaut Pierre J. Thuot approaches the Intelsat VI communications satellite (out of frame). After this attempt failed to grab the 4.5-ton satellite, Thuot and two other crew members corralled it two days later and prepared it for release into space.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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May 13, 1992: From left, astronauts Richard J. Hieb, Thomas D. Akers and Pierre J. Thuot hold onto the 4.5-ton Intelsat VI communications satellite after finally capturing it.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Sep. 12, 1992: Endeavour launches from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with seven astronauts aboard, including the first married couple and the first black woman in space.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Thom Baur / Associated Press
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Dec. 9, 1993: Astronaut F. Story Musgrave, anchored on the end of Endeavour's Remote Manipulator System arm, prepares to be elevated to the top of the Hubble Space Telescope to install protective covers.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA / NASA
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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE — Apr. 20, 1994: Endeavour touches down at Edwards Air Force Base after an 11-day mission. The shuttle landing was made at Edwards because of bad weather in Florida.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times
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October 1994: From left, crew members Daniel W. Bursch, Steven L. Smith and Thomas D. Jones prepare for sleep time in bunk beds aboard the Endeavour.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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Sept. 30-Oct. 11, 1994: This time-exposure image of Aurora Australis, or the Southern Lights, was taken from aboard Endeavour.
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KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, Russia — Sep. 30, 1994: The Kliuchevskoi volcano on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula is photographed from Endeavour.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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Sep. 9, 1995: A video image taken from Endeavour shows the shuttle's tail and robot arm with Hurricane Luis in the background over the Atlantic Ocean.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Anonymous / NASA TV
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Jan. 10, 1996: A flock of birds takes flight as Endeavour prepares for launch at Kennedy Space Center.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Thom Baur / Associated Press
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May 19, 1996: Endeavour lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Chris O'Meara / Associated Press
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Jan. 20, 1996: Endeavour glides towards a landing on Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Anonymous / NASA
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Dec. 1998: The crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-88 on Endeavour begins construction of the International Space Station, joining the U.S.-built Unity node to the Russian-built Zarya module. The crew carried a large-format IMAX camera, from which this picture was taken.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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Dec. 5, 2001: Endeavour launches while an F-15 Eagle from the 125th Fighter Wing, Jacksonville, Fla., ensures its safety.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: TSgt Shaun Withers / USAF
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Dec. 2001: STS-108 mission commander Dominic L. Gorie, left, and pilot Mark E. Kelly are photographed with a Navy wings patch on the aft flight deck of Endeavour.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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Nov. 25, 2002: Endeavour flies over New Zealand as it approaches the International Space Station for docking.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Anonymous / NASA
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Aug. 13, 2007: After delivery by Endeavour, the Materials International Space Station Experiment sits on the exterior of the station. MISSE collects information on how different materials weather in the environment of space.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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MOJAVE DESERT — Dec. 10, 2008: Endeavour, mounted atop its modified Boeing 747 carrier, flies over California's Mojave Desert on its way back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after completing the STS-126 mission.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA / NASA
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — July 21, 2008: Inside Orbiter Processing Facility 2 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance technicians secure the U.S. flag in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. Endeavour was to deliver a multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station on its STS-126 mission.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Amanda Diller / NASA
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Sep. 19, 2008: Under a waning full moon at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Endeavour makes its way to the launch pad atop the mobile launcher platform and massive crawler-transporter.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Dimitri Gerondidakis / NASA
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Sept. 20, 2008: The shuttle Atlantis (foreground) sits on Launch Pad A and Endeavour on Launch Pad B (above) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. For the first time since July 2001, two shuttles were on the launch pads at the same time. Endeavour was on standby in the event a rescue mission was necessary for Atlantis' mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA / NASA
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Feb. 19, 2010: Endeavour stands out against a terrestrial background in this photo taken by an Expedition 22 crew member on the International Space Station soon after the shuttle undocked from the space station and began to move away.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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Feb. 9, 2010: Endeavour is silhouetted against Earth's horizon prior to docking with the International Space Station in this NASA handout image taken by an Expedition 22 crew member.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA / NASA
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Feb. 19, 2010: NASA astronaut George Zamka, STS-130 commander, is pictured in a window of the newly-installed Cupola of the International Space Station while Endeavour remains docked with the station.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Anonymous / NASA
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May 28, 2011: Backdropped by a nighttime view of the Earth and the starry sky, Endeavour is seen docked at the International Space Station.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA / NASA
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May 23, 2011: This image of the International Space Station and the docked Endeavour -- at top of station -- flying at an altitude of approximately 220 miles, was taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking. Nespoli's pictures are the first taken of a shuttle docked to the station from the perspective of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Paolo Nespoli / NASA
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Apr. 28, 2011: The space shuttle Endeavour is seen on launch pad 39a as a storm passes by before the rollback of the Rotating Service Structure at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA/Bill Ingalls / NASA
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May 26, 2011: The six member crew of Endeavour's final mission poses for an STS-134 in-flight crew portrait in the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo lab on the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is near Kibo's ceiling in upper center. Clockwise from the commander are NASA astronauts Greg Chamitoff and Andrew Feustel, European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, and NASA astronaut Michael Fincke, all mission specialists, and NASA astronaut Greg H. Johnson, pilot.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — June 1, 2011: Endeavour lands for the final time.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Tom Farrar/Tony Gray / NASA
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — June 1, 2011: Endeavour makes its final landing at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla., completing a 16-day mission to outfit the International Space Station. Endeavour spent 299 days in space and traveled more than 122.8 million miles during its 25 flights. It launched on its first mission on May 7, 1992.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: NASA/Bill Ingalls / NASA
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