The Challenger shuttle infamously broke apart in a 1986 launch accident, while the Columbia shuttle disintegrated upon reentry during its final flight in 2003. Only three of the five shuttles used in the program still exist. The Endeavour was part of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program, which launched thirty years of missions from 1981 to 2011. “This is the final time they’ll work together to lift and mate a space shuttle and is the last-ever planned space shuttle stack,” said the museum in a statement. The lift and mate were accomplished with the help of experts at the California Science Center who previously worked on NASA’s shuttle program. The “hard mate,” the process of firmly securing the orbiter in place, was completed today (Jan. Hoisted with a 450-foot crane, it was the first time such an undertaking was accomplished outside of a NASA or Air Force facility. Finally, earlier this week, the California Science Center successfully attached Endeavour, which measures 122 feet and weighs 178,000 pounds, to the space shuttle stack. The museum then attached its rocket motors and rusty orange external fuel tank. The project, known as “Go For Stack,” began with the installation of the bottom segments of the shuttle’s side boosters. While it has been shown at the museum for more than a decade in a horizontal position, the California Science Center in July of last year began the process of assembling the ready-to-launch display that will be a star attraction in its upcoming Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center expansion. In April of 2011, NASA announced that Endeavour would be given to the California Science Center for a permanent display. The shuttle completed twenty-five trips in total, starting with a 1992 mission to rescue a communications satellite. The last time Endeavour was prepared to blast off was more than a decade ago when it successfully delivered various spare parts to the International Space Station during its final mission.
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