Space Shuttle Endeavour Heads to its New Home

Famed space shuttle Endeavour landed safely in Houston Wednesday morning after completing its first leg of its cross-country farewell final flight.

After traveling nearly 123 million miles orbiting the Earth since 1992, Endeavour took off one last time from Kennedy Space Center at sunrise to the cheers of hundreds of spectators eager to see the shuttle make a final swoop over its old landing strip before embarking on its journey to its new home at the California Science Center at Exposition Park in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is certainly ready to greet its newest resident.

"The best viewing is going to be to just look at the sky," said Deputy Executive Director of Facilities Management at Los Angeles World Airport Michael Feldman. "We also expect the Science Center to be a great place to see it."

The shuttle is due to land at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, according to NASA officials. Los Angeles beat out multiple bidders including Houston and New York to house the Endeavour's permanent shuttle exhibit.

"It's a huge win for the California Science Center, for Los Angeles and for California," said President of California Science Center Jeffrey Rudolph.  "This was a big national competition over who was going to get the retiring space shuttles."

In a press conference Wednesday Rudolph said that the exhibit will be a great way to inspire and motivate young people to become more educated in the fields of math, science and engineering.

The shuttle's move comes after NASA retired its shuttle fleet last summer, under the direction of the White House, so that more funds and time could be spent on destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.  Endeavour was built as the replacement for the destroyed Challenger shuttle in 1991.  In 1992 it made its flight debut and flew 25 times in space.

After its stop at Ellington Field in Houston on Wednesday, Endeavour will continue on to the Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. 

From there, it will fly over California's capital city, Sacramento, and continue on through San Francisco where observers can catch one last glimpse of the shuttle airborn.

Once the space shuttle reaches Los Angeles, it will pass over famous landmarks including the Getty Center, the Griffith Observatory and it will even say a quick hello to Mickey and friends at Disneyland.

Endeavour will have a temporary home at a United Airlines hangar at LAX until Oct. 12 when it will be moved to its permanent residence at the California Science Center.  The exhibit will open to the public on Oct. 30.

Will you be watching Endeavour's arrival? Tweet your photos to @atvn with your location and the hashtag #SpotTheShuttle!