Endeavour Arrives At California Science Center

The final mission of the Endeavour has been completed. The shuttle has arrived at its final home, the California Science Center. From the article: "After a dramatic three-day parade through city streets, Endeavour arrived at its new home at the California Science Center shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday amid cheers from thousands gathered to witness a piece of history. 'Mission 26 — Mission Accomplished,' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference at Exposition Park, the shuttle rising behind him as a backdrop. The mayor was referencing the shuttle’s 25 space missions and its journey across the city. The 85-ton orbiter pulled up next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and ground to a halt so that the mayor and others could officially mark its arrival at the park near the USC campus. 'Today everyone in the city of Los Angeles is an astronaut,' said L.A. Fire Department Chief Brian Cummings at the news conference."

Comments

Arrived at it is final home?

[Stormwatch]

Yuo feil inglesh forevar!

Re:Arrived at it is final home?

[Samantha Wright]

You're completely off-topic, but to reward your curiosity I'll gladly take the hit to my karma.

It's been demonstrated by the Knight group at the University of Colorado, in mice, that individuals with a very specific immune defect will accrue a specific kind of bacteria (Bacteriodetes) in their intestines. The presence of this bacteria has been shown to cause dramatic weight gain in the host, because of how it modifies the nutrients that are left over in the gut. Transplanting these bacteria into the intestines of healthy mice can cause dramatic weight gain, and it's strongly believed that the same phenomenon occurs in humans.

That's not to say that there isn't a psychological element, but it's not simply a matter of mental dysfunction.

LA Astronauts?

[toygeek]

'Today everyone in the city of Los Angeles is an astronaut,' said L.A. Fire Department Chief Brian Cumming

I hope for the sake of the astronauts that the reverse isn't true.

Yes lets all celebrate!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes lets all celebrate our national decline as represented here by our voluntary loss of manned space flight capability! Your parents saw us put men on the moon... not just once but repeatedly. Now we can't even get our ass off the planet without help from the Russians. Damn that calls for a parade!

Re:Yes lets all celebrate!

[cfryback]

My thoughts exactly. I get that the shuttles were aging technology. But NASA did describe them as "pickup trucks", well I've seen some beat up pickup trucks on farms that still keep going.

I saw the Challenger disaster live, but without risk there is no gain. Several lessons were learned from that.

It is a sad end to an era, and people seem to be cheering it on.

Now it is the Russians and for-profit industry that will make those science/adventure movies reality.

Re:It should've had a parade

[jaxxa]

NASA, do you even have a PR department?

Not with the Budget.

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Typical L.A. Driving Experience

[DaveAtFraud]

Take a vehicle capable of escape velocity and put it on the streets of L.A.: maxim speed is now two miles per hour (with lots of stops while waiting for traffic to clear).

Cheers,
Dave

Re:Space relics

[Miamicanes]

It was smoldering long before Obama. In a rare showing of nonpartisan unity, both parties have actively beaten it up ever since the end of the Cold War.

I almost wish China would hurry up and announce plans to plant a red flag on the red planet, just to completely freak out everyone in Washington and instantly elevate NASA to the top of their funding priority list. Obviously nobody sane wants a return to the Cold War, but a little healthy rivalry between worthy adversaries can be a good alternative to the complacency we have right now.

On the other hand, NASA could try a little harder to learn how public relations is supposed to work. They need to pull the Puritanical stake out of their butt and visit Russia to see what a real launch party is supposed to be like. Russia's space program *knows* where their funding comes from, and they work hard to keep the funds flowing as freely as the vodka at their launch parties. NASA lost its way when it decided that its mission was to make space exploration boring and routine.

When there's a crisis at ISS, they should have live in-station cameras beaming the raw streaming footage to every news network 24/7 to make it their urgent story of the hour... and find ways to pitch for more funding along the way. When the crew is huddling in a refuge spot because of an impending collision with space junk, CNN should have America hanging on the drama and begging for more. 99 times out of 100, when something bad happens in space, the reaction of most people ends up being, "oh... I hadn't even though about NASA lately. I'd kind of forgotten they even exist." Then they wonder why their funding has dried up.

Over the past 30 years, NASA has managed to transform space from something that's cool and extreme, and make it seem about as exciting as working on an oil rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. No, actually, they've made it seem less appealing and exciting. At least workers on the oil rig get to have uncensored broadband. NASA needs to hook up with the producers of shows like "Turbine Cowboys" and "Iron Men", and get a Journalist-Producer on board the ISS to shoot a season's worth of shows up there. Money can't *buy* the kind of PR a season of "Going Up?" on DiscoveryHD (with teaser that shows elevator running to the 100,000th floor) would get them.

My visit

[Tablizer]

I visited the Shuttle just after midnight just before it entered Martin Luther King Blvd. I hoped that by being there late at night I could avoid the crowds and poor parking. (Unfortunately, it also avoided restrooms.) They had engine problems twice that delayed it for at least 3 more hours.

They used a zig-zag pattern to avoid trees and poles. They pre-removed or trimmed trees and poles in kind of an alternating pattern from the left and right side. They probably made a choice over whether the left or right side of a given section of road would be easier to clear, and veered away from the non-cleared side. In some places there were inches to spare.

One street-light that was unbolted and laid down was curiously still on. Somebody bumped a safety cone up against the light, and I moved it away to avoid burning it.

It was odd seeing a multi-billion-dollar space-ship rolling through lower-middle-class neighborhoods. It gave one a true sense of democracy. And being Los Angeles, there were ethnic groups from all over the globe there to watch the spaceship go by.