Fifteen years after its final space mission, the space shuttle Endeavour finally opens for public exhibition on November 13 at the California Science Center, EL PAÍS reported.
The spacecraft completed twenty-five missions over nineteen years before separating from the International Space Station in May 2011. It flew to Florida before taking an aircraft ride to California in October 2012.
Visitors face a fourteen-year wait since that airport arrival for this public debut. The new Samuel Oschin Aerospace Center cost four hundred fifty million dollars to construct.
“Today, that dream of 1992 already is reality,” Jeffrey N. Rudolph said.
Rudolph serves as the president of the California Science Center. He said that the new eighteen thousand six hundred square meter wing doubles the exhibition space.
Visitors enter the new wing at mid-height alongside the restored spacecraft. They reach the lower level via stairs, escalators, elevators, or a tubular slide built through the museum’s interior.
Downstairs, the public views the boosters, turbines, and the interior cabin. A high-speed glass elevator then lifts guests to a twenty-story equivalent height for an overhead view.
“Contenía el combustible líquido y los propulsores, pero ya está vacío. Le faltaban algunos pedazos, así que lo restauramos por completo,” Rosemary Garista told EL PAÍS.
Garista works as the community programs manager at the science center. She spoke about the orange external tank, known as ET-94, which stands beside the orbiter.
This tank represents the final structure built to push these vehicles into orbit. Crews repaired missing sections before mounting it for the exhibition.
Museum guides expect high visitor numbers and urge guests to book tickets ahead of time. The institution employs more than three hundred staff members across its operations.
Project organizers note that thirty-five million dollars remain unpaid for the new building. They currently seek donations to cover those remaining construction costs.
“Es inspirador, espero que sea transformador, pero sobre todo es una invitación, porque esperamos que la gente que no ha vivido esta experiencia quede convencida, sorprendida, de que hay un espacio para ellos en esta sociedad de tecnología avanzada hacia la que nos movemos,” Ken Phillips told EL PAÍS.
Phillips works as the museum’s exhibits director and spent thirty-seven years working toward this opening. The site sits next to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the Memorial Coliseum, which hosts the Olympic Games opening ceremony in the summer of 2028.
