The Endeavor flew over California to commemorate its retirement. [AP]This past Friday in California, the Spaceship Endeavor celebrated its retirement by being flown for the last time on the back of a 747 jet. The spaceship’s journey began in Florida and after 3 days of traveling, touched down at LAX Airport. Endeavor’s final flight could be seen all throughout California, however most notable locations were Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley.”Watching this flight is going to be a moment (we) will remember for the rest of (our) lives,” said Peninsula High School Chemistry teacher, Mr. Starodub. Mr. Starodub, along with several other teachers of the school, encouraged students to watch the Endeavor’s flight and took class time to experience the journey.The Endeavor’s first mission was in May 1992 for the mission STS-49 in which the objective was to retrieve a failed satellite. Twenty four missions later, its last mission was in May 2011 and successfully deployed a particle physics detector in order to research antimatter and dark matter.Currently in the Los Angeles International Airport,the Endeavor will be heading to its final destination in mid-October to the California Science Center where it would remain as a exhibition. Its journey to the California Science Center, however, has created a controversy due to the number of trees that will be cut down because of the wide span of the space shuttle’s wings. Many people had reacted negatively to the fact that 265 trees would be cut down, however, the museum promised to replant the same number of trees.
“I’m really excited to see the Endeavor at the museum and be able to tell my kids that I once saw the space ship in flight.” says Derek Torng, senior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. “It was a great experience seeing something with a lot of history finally celebrate its retirement.”
