Back home

This morning, a crowd gathered at the Columbia Memorial Space Museum to watch the space shuttle Endeavour on its final flight. The shuttle arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) earlier on the back of the 747 that NASA has modified specifically for transporting the shuttle. This morning, the pair made a last flight over California, making low-flying (1,500 feet!) passes over various landmarks, many of which have ties to the space program.

Of course, Downey-ites make claim to the most important landmark, the North American Rockwell buildings where the shuttle had its start. Many of the parts of the shuttle were made in this building that is now about to be torn down. The life-size shuttle mockup was stored here until recently (see Small boy, big dreams).

As the shuttle flew over us, in addition to the cheers, I heard proud comments like "We made that!" and "That's ours!". The shuttle will be moving eventually to its final home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. But even though it won't be back here ("back home"), we're proud of our part in its history.