At its prime the space shuttle Endeavour was the fastest craft ever operated by man, hitting speeds of up 18,00 mph or Mach 25 on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere - but today the spacecraft's last trip is going a lot more slowly.
Setting off last night from Los Angeles International Aiport to its new home at the California Science Center, Endeavour will spend two days traveling the 12 mile distance at a top speed of 2 mph.
And while the patient trawl through LA's streets may not be the riskiest of final missions for the shuttle, it is one of the most complicated Endeavour has undertaken.
Setting off last night the immense black-and-white spacecraft, its sides weathered by millions of miles in space and two dozen re-entries, crawled slowly through the streets of the Westchester neighborhood on a 160-wheeled carrier.
The space craft was escorted by a security entourage as it moved across the tarmac but was briefly delayed after a minor problem developed with its trailer, Los Angeles police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.
The problem was quickly repaired and Scheier said it reached the street shortly after 2 a.m. PDT Friday.
Hundreds of people waiting in the predawn darkness snapped photos and gaped as it inched by with its tail towering over streetlights and its wings spanning the roadway.
'I'm speechless. It's like a once-in-a-lifetime chance,' one man told KABC-TV.
'I grew up with the space program,' another said. 'I remember when Columbia blew up when I was a child in school and I was fortunate last summer to go to the last shuttle launch in Florida, so it's really exciting for me to be here and watch it go through the streets.'
source: dailymail
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