California Science Center
On October 30, 2012, the Space Shuttle Endeavour was opened to the public. The shuttle was on display inside the temporary Samuel Oschin Pavilion, where guests offered to not only walk around Endeavour, but also under it, as the vehicle was displayed in the horizontal atop four friction-pendulum seismic isolators to protect it from earthquakes. The shuttle remained inside the temporary pavilion until December 31, 2023. A companion exhibit inside the Science Center features images and artifacts that related the Space Shuttle program to California, where the orbiters were originally constructed.
After its decommissioning, Endeavour's Canadarm (formally the 'Shuttle Remote Manipulator System') was removed in order to be sent to the Canadian Space Agency's John H. Chapman Space Centre in Longueuil, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, where it was to be placed on display. In a Canadian poll on which science or aerospace museum should be selected to display the Canadarm, originally built by SPAR Aerospace, the Canadian Space Agency's headquarters placed third to last with only 35 out of 638 votes. Endeavour's Canadarm has since gone on permanent display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. In August 2015, NASA engineers removed a few of the tanks from Endeavour for reuse as storage containers for potable water on the International Space Station.
On May 28, 2015, NASA donated the ET-94 external tank, the last mission-ready one in existence as all others were destroyed during launch. On April 12, 2016, the tank was transported by barge from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, across the Panama Canal, and was safely docked in Marina del Rey on May 15. The tank was delivered to the Science Center on May 21. It was displayed outside the Samuel Oschin Pavilion until 2023. On March 28, 2017, both Northrop Grumman and NASA donated a pair of flight-proven solid rocket boosters for Endeavour exhibit. The rocket parts were delivered on September 11, 2020, and were temporarily stored in the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California until construction began.
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, a new building that is under construction, will serve as Endeavour's new permanent home. The Space Shuttle will be in a 20-story-tall display mounted on with the ET-94 tank, and solid rocket boosters. Once finished, it will be the only Space Shuttle mounted vertically in launch position.
Originally slated to open in 2015, construction on the new building started on June 1, 2022. Meanwhile, the ET-94 tank underwent some restoration after being used to analyze the foam on its sister tank, ET-93, which was a factor during the STS-107 mission, which resulted in the Columbia disaster.
On July 20, 2023, the assembly of the stack began with the aft skirts (bottom segments of the rocket boosters) being precisely positioned on a concrete slab supported by six base isolators that will protect Endeavour from earthquakes. The motors for the rocket boosters, which were in storage at the Mojave Air and Space Port, were installed on October 11, 2023. The rocket boosters were fully assembled when the tops were added on December 5, 2023.
On January 3, 2024, Endeavour was protected in a shrink wrap, likely to stay on until construction is complete. The ET-94 tank was then moved into its position in January 16 and was mounted to the rocket boosters. On January 30, the Space Shuttle was then moved into its position, thus completing the stack. Once all components are mounted into place, construction on the building will continue, as a complex diagrid structure will be built around it. Construction work on the building was slated to finish in 2025 but lasted until April 2026. It will take several more years to install the artifacts and exhibits inside the building. On June 24, 2026, it was announced the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will have its grand opening on November 13, 2026.
