![]() ![]() The SRMs' route to the science center will be mostly by freeway until the last leg of their trip. The components, including NASA's last remaining built-for-flight external tank, will make up the world's only exhibit of an authentic shuttle poised for flight. They are the final elements of space shuttle Endeavour's stack to arrive at the California Science Center. The SRMs have been in storage at the Mojave Air and Space Port, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, since September 2020. The most recent use was for STS-123, the 21st launch of Endeavour, in 2008. The oldest cases, located at the top of each assembled solid rocket motor, helped launch STS-5, the fifth flight of the program and the orbiter Columbia, in 1982. (Image credit: California Science Center)ĭonated by Northrop Grumman, the two SRMs include hardware that was part of 81 space shuttle missions. After burnout, the two boosters were jettisoned and descended under parachutes to an ocean splashdown to be recovered, refurbished and reused.Īrtist rendering of the space shuttle Endeavour inside the California Science Center's Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. During the 30-year space shuttle program, twin 15-story-tall, reusable SRBs would fire in tandem with the shuttle's three main engines to produce more than six million pounds of thrust, the majority of what was needed to lift off the launch pad. The SRMs comprise the largest part of the solid rocket boosters (SRBs). "The arrival of the SRMs will propel us one step closer to the completion of the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which will serve as a launchpad for creativity and innovation and will inspire future generations of scientists, engineers and explorers." "Eleven years after Endeavour's memorable crosstown journey, we're delighted to invite the public to join us once again to be a part of this next historic arrival," said Jeffrey Rudolph, president and chief executive officer of the California Science Center, in a statement. The public is invited to watch as the pair of 116-foot-long (35 meters) motors are carried by truck to Exposition Park. 11), 11 years to the day after the NASA winged orbiter began the ground-based leg of its journey to go on display, two flight-worthy solid rocket motors (SRMs) will arrive at the science center to stand with Endeavour in a vertical, ready for launch configuration. The California Science Center is celebrating the anniversary of space shuttle Endeavour's iconic Los Angeles road trip with the delivery of two very large candles. ![]()
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