Space shuttle Endeavour detachment time-lapse video

• Posted By: Bryan Chan
• Posted On: 11:04 p.m. | September 22, 2012

Crews spent 12 hours early Saturday morning demating or detaching space shuttle Endeavour from the back of the NASA Boeing 747 aircraft that transported the orbiter to Los Angeles from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Giant cranes supporting a yellow sling raised the shuttle about 60 feet to allow the plane to back out. A special transporter was then wheeled in to move the shuttle into a United Airlines hangar. The transporter will eventually carry the 78-ton shuttle to the California Science Center in Exposition Park.

Endeavour will remain at the airport for about three weeks. On Oct. 1,2 it will begin a two-day journey across the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles as it makes it way to its permanent retirement home at the science center’s Samuel Oschin display pavilion.

The state-run museum plans to open the Endeavour exhibit to the public Oct. 30. Read more

Related:

More time-lapse video: Endeavour on the streets on L.A.

PHOTOS:

Endeavour rolls through L.A. | Endeavour’s Southland flyover | Endeavour 1991-2012

Back story on our photo of Endeavour and the Hollywood sign

Zoomable high-resolution image of Endeavour

PANORAMAS:

Endeavour stored in the United hangar | Endeavour arrives in L.A. | Inside the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

Order space shuttle Endeavour prints