Update: Officials now say it will more likely be Thursday -
NASA’s retired space shuttle Endeavour should be visible to residents in the Las Cruces area Wednesday as it makes a low pass over White Sands Missile Range en route to its final home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Mounted atop a modified jumbo jet, the shuttle should be visible from the ground between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. as it flies from a refueling stop at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso over White Sands, said Monte Marlin, chief of public affairs for White Sands. For decades, White Sands’ Northrup Strip was an emergency landing site for the space shuttle program. On March 30, 1982, space shuttle Columbia landed on the dry lake bed — the only time a shuttle has landed in New Mexico. At sunrise today, Endeavour will depart Kennedy Space Center on a four-day trip to the California museum. Exact times of the planned flyovers will depend on weather and other factors, NASA officials said. Endeavour is the last shuttle to go to its permanent home. Discovery is housed at the Smithsonian Institution’s display hangar in Virginia. Atlantis is housed at Kennedy Space Center, and Enterprise is on display in New York City. NASA’s two other shuttles during the 30-year program, Challenger and Columbia, were destroyed during flight, resulting in the loss of 14 astronauts. Endeavour was built to replace Challenger and made its flying debut in 1992, six years after the launch accident. It performed the next-to-last shuttle mission in May and June 2011. During its 25 missions, Endeavour logged 299 days in space and circled Earth 4,671 times. Total off-the-planet mileage: 122.8 million miles...
NASA's Endeavour to fly over NM
NASA’s retired space shuttle Endeavour should be visible to residents in the Las Cruces area Wednesday as it makes a low pass over White Sands Missile Range en route to its final home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Mounted atop a modified jumbo jet, the shuttle should be visible from the ground between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. as it flies from a refueling stop at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso over White Sands, said Monte Marlin, chief of public affairs for White Sands. For decades, White Sands’ Northrup Strip was an emergency landing site for the space shuttle program. On March 30, 1982, space shuttle Columbia landed on the dry lake bed — the only time a shuttle has landed in New Mexico. At sunrise today, Endeavour will depart Kennedy Space Center on a four-day trip to the California museum. Exact times of the planned flyovers will depend on weather and other factors, NASA officials said. Endeavour is the last shuttle to go to its permanent home. Discovery is housed at the Smithsonian Institution’s display hangar in Virginia. Atlantis is housed at Kennedy Space Center, and Enterprise is on display in New York City. NASA’s two other shuttles during the 30-year program, Challenger and Columbia, were destroyed during flight, resulting in the loss of 14 astronauts. Endeavour was built to replace Challenger and made its flying debut in 1992, six years after the launch accident. It performed the next-to-last shuttle mission in May and June 2011. During its 25 missions, Endeavour logged 299 days in space and circled Earth 4,671 times. Total off-the-planet mileage: 122.8 million miles...
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