Top Highlights
NASA photographers documented Endeavour’s emotional final ferry flight across California in 2012.
Chase aircraft captured iconic images as crowds gathered at famous landmarks.
Endeavour completed 25 missions, helping begin assembly of the International Space Station.
Its new exhibit will inspire future explorers at the California Science Center.
Through NASA’s Lens: Capturing Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Move to LA
On Sept. 21, 2012, millions of people watched space shuttle Endeavour cross California atop NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The aircraft carried the retired orbiter on its final ferry flight, bound for its new home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. NASA photographers and videographers documented the journey as it passed over landmarks and crowds across the state.
The images made the flight visible to people around the world. Behind them stood extensive planning, close coordination and a small team working from aircraft in the air and helicopters below.
Planning the images and the flight
Two photographers and a videographer from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, helped prepare for Endeavour’s journey. They worked with NASA pilots to shape a route that would take the shuttle past well-known sites, while considering how to capture each view.
Lori Losey, Armstrong’s lead videographer, called the mission a highlight of her 37-year NASA career. She advocated for two chase aircraft over the Los Angeles area: one dedicated to photography, the other to video. The teams alternated altitudes and positions near landmarks, coordinating their movements to make the most of each viewing opportunity.
NASA Armstrong’s F/A-18s and an F-15 escorted the shuttle-carrying aircraft. Photographers and video teams flew in the back seats. The arrangement offered a practical way to record the flight from close range, but it also demanded careful coordination. The work involved more than cameras and aircraft. NASA planned with the California Science Center, the Federal Aviation Administration, Los Angeles International Airport and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Photographer Carla Thomas also flew the route in a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter to check locations and identify potential obstacles. Planning the Hollywood sign was especially challenging. It sits on a hillside among power lines and radio antennas, so the team had to assess the site before the flyover.
That preparation helped shape a route that included the California State Capitol in Sacramento, the Golden Gate Bridge, NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. In Los Angeles, Endeavour passed Dodger Stadium, the Getty Center, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Santa Monica Pier and other landmarks.
A farewell shared with the public
For NASA Armstrong lead photographer Jim Ross, the public response was a defining part of the assignment. He recalled seeing crowds gather at Griffith Park and Disneyland. Thomas remembered a standing-room-only crowd below the state Capitol. After joining NASA in the wake of the Challenger tragedy, she said, documenting the flight carried special meaning.
The flyover joined an important spacecraft with familiar places. Endeavour helped begin assembly of the International Space Station by carrying its first components to orbit. It later completed 25 missions. Its final flight across California gave the public a chance to see the shuttle outside the context of a launch or mission, passing above communities on its way to a museum.
Capturing that journey required both specialized equipment and practical judgment. Chase aircraft gave NASA’s teams moving viewpoints, while the helicopter route check helped reveal hazards on the ground. Neither technology nor planning alone could deliver the images: the result depended on people coordinating aircraft, airspace, routes and timing.
Endeavour is displayed upright in launch position at the California Science Center’s Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in downtown Los Angeles. The permanent display gives visitors a close look at the shuttle and preserves the story of its missions. Images from the final flight add another perspective: they show not only Endeavour’s passage through the sky, but also the crowds who came out to see it.
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