Early this morning crews at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility backed out the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, from the mate-demate device (MDM). With the now retired space shuttle Endeavour attached to the top of NASA 905 (the SCA’s official designation), the unique pair are ready to begin their cross country flight across the southern United States to Los Angeles this Tuesday – weather permitting.
Weather forecasts along the Gulf Coast en route to Houston – where the SCA and Endeavour are scheduled to make a stop at Ellington Field – were not favorable for an arrival, so NASA announced late today that Monday’s expected departure has been delayed for at least 24 hours.
Weather permitting, Endeavour will take to the skies on her final flight shortly after 7:00 a.m. EDT Tuesday morning, conducting a low flyover up and down Florida’s Space Coast and giving residents a final chance to say goodbye to the orbiter they watched launched on 25 missions over nearly 20 years. Endeavour will then head west towards California, making numerous low-flyovers and stops along the way.
– Click HERE to read about Endeavour’s planned flight to California and the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft making it happen.
All Photos Credit: Mike Killian / Zero-G News and AmericaSpace
In the last two decades NASA management has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on failed and over budget projects, but no responsible NASA manager has ever been fired or even reprimanded. The executive branch and congresses have ignored NASA’s mismanagement problems, but that should be no surprise since both these two governing bodies have ignored the problems that have us $16 trillion in debt. Space shuttle Endeavor will not be a monument to our past glories in space, but instead it will be a shameful symbol that we are losing the ability to govern this nation.