1,800-ton slab of reinforced concrete atop of which the space shuttle Endeavour will stand in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. NASA chose, on cost grounds, to build Endeavour from spares rather than refitting Enterprise. Endeavours touch down in California marked the 100th daytime landing by a space shuttle and the first use of a 'temporary' runway constructed while the main landing strip was under refurbishment. And to think, that was while the winged orbiter was displayed near the ground in its horizontal, landing configuration. Structural spares built during the construction of Discovery and Atlantis were used in its assembly. The newest addition to the Space Shuttle orbiter fleet, Endeavour, arrives at KSC atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft on May 7. The United States Congress approved the construction of Endeavour in 1987 to replace Challenger, which was destroyed in 1986. Overnight Monday into the early hours of Tuesday (Jan. STS-134 was expected to be the final mission of the Space Shuttle program, but with the authorization of STS-135, Atlantis became the last shuttle to fly. JanuA complete space shuttle is standing upright for the first time in more than a decade. It embarked on its first mission, STS-49, in May 1992 and its 25th and final mission, STS-134, in May 2011. Space Shuttle Endeavour (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational Shuttle built. One of the factors that is making Endeavours vertical display possible is the use of all flight.
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Retired, displayed at California Science Center in Los Angeles, California Related: Facts about NASAs space shuttle, the 1st reusable spacecraft History, from the ground up.
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Endeavour in orbit in 2008, during STS-123