LOS ANGELES, Oct 14: The retired space shuttle Endeavour rolled at a snail-like pace through narrow city streets yesterday, arriving five hours late at a key checkpoint but steadily closing in on its final destination at a museum.
Enthusiasm remained high despite the slow pace with an estimated 165,000 bystanders lining the streets to greet the spaceship.
At its current pace, the shuttle could arrive at the California Science Center at about 1400 hrs Pacific Time (1430 IST) today, said Paula Wagner, a spokeswoman for the center.
Endeavour nosed out of Los Angeles International Airport before dawn on Friday for the 19-km trip to its retirement home. Organizers had expected the shuttle to complete its journey on Saturday evening but it fell behind schedule crews had to make late adjustments to clear room for it.
The shuttle, which has been a cause for cheers and expressions of awe from spectators watching it parade through the streets, will become a tourist attraction at the center. Endeavour was largely built in Southern California and was a workhorse of the US space program, flying 25 missions.
Astronaut Michael Fincke, who went to space in Endeavour, said he and other astronauts on the shuttle’s parade route felt the shuttle’s road trip – one unlike any voyage it has ever taken – was special.
“We’ve seen our beautiful planet Earth from space, we’ve been weightless, we’ve been able to fly – no special effects needed when you’re in space,” Fincke told the crowd outside a south Los Angeles shopping mall.
“And I tell you what, even though we’ve been in space we would not rather be anywhere else than where we are today,” he said.
Organizers had planned to have the Endeavour arrive at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall at 2 p.M. But instead it arrived after 7 p.M. About five hours behind schedule, said the organizers, a coalition that includes the Science Center and local authorities.
A huge crowd gathered outside the mall, where a dancers and a high school marching band performed before the arrival of the Endeavour, at what was a key checkpoint because the ship had to make a 90-degree turn to the east. The trip from the mall to the museum is about 4 miles (6.4 km). (AGENCIES)
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