Endeavour takes final curtain call over San Francisco Bay (pictures)
Piggybacking on a Boeing 747, the space shuttle tours the San Francisco Bay Area Friday enroute to its finally destination, the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
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After traveling 122.88 million miles on 25 missions to space, the space shuttle Endeavor traveled through California today on a fairwell tour to the delight of thousands of people who came out for the low-altitude flyby.
Leaving from Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California this morning, the modified 747 -- with Endeavour bolted to its back -- headed north to Sacramento, and then west towards San Francisco where it made two passes around the bay.
At NASA Ames Reseach Center in Mountain View, Calif., an estimated 20,000 people came out and for a viewing on NASA's home turf, where astronauts and engineers who had worked on Endeavor over the years were on hand to give personal accounts of their time with the shuttle.
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Hangar 1 flyby at Ames
NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) with Endeavour securely mounted on top is seen passing by Hangar 1 at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.
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Looking skyward
A visitor to NASA Ames Research Center snaps a photo of the immense crowd that gathered to watch the shuttle pass overhead.
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Crowd of 20,000
NASA estimates that 15,000 people came out to Ames see the shuttle off on Friday.
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And it's gone
The shuttle came in low at NASA Ames, just a few hundred feet off the ground. It came into view only at the last second from behind Hangar 1, and then it was gone.
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Flying into history
The shuttle and its carrier can be seen in the distance to the left of the control tower at NASA Ames Research Center as it leaves following a low flyby of the airfield in Mountain View, Calif.
At around 1 p.m. (PT) Friday, the shuttle landed at Los Angeles International Airport where it will be taken off the 747 and transported to its permanent home at the California Science Center next month.
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Turning over the San Francisco Bay
Space shuttle Endeavour makes a turn over the San Francisco Bay Friday during its farewell tour of California.
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Marin headlands
The SCA-Endeavour combo lifted off Edwards' Runway 04R at about 8:17 a.m. PT this morning. It began its California tour with low-level flyovers of the communities of Palmdale, Lancaster, Rosamond, California City, and Mojave before heading north to Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. Here we see the shuttle above the Marin headlands just north of San Francisco.
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Shuttle and the Golden Gate Bridge
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with Endeavour aboard passed by the Golden Gate Bridge Friday.
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Endeavour fly-by
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with Endeavour aboard passed by the Golden Gate Bridge Friday.
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Endeavour over the Bay
Space shuttle Endeavour over the San Francisco Bay Friday.
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Endeavour over the Bay
Space shuttle Endeavour over the San Francisco Bay Friday.
