Space Shuttle Endeavour Roll Out EXPO Park

It was amazing! My husband and I came here for a walk just the two of us, but we are definitely coming back to bring the kids.

I went to see Endeavour during the first week the exhibit opened and it was well worth seeing it up close and personal especially since it’s free, well sort of. The admission is free but you need to obtain a ticket/​appointment which cost $ 2 for processing.
My suggestion is to take the Expo Line instead of driving. Exit at the USC Station rather than the Expo/​Museum Station. The walk is shorter, all you have to do is walk right through the Rose Garden and straight on through the Science Building which is dead ahead (Brick Building), as soon as you go through the doors you walk pass the McDonald’s on your right and out through the back door straight to the ticket windows, located on your immediate right. Personally I would reserve tickets in advance. Just say’n.
As you queue up to see the Shuttle, you surrender your ticket in exchange for a purple poker chip. The first room displays Shuttle Stuff such as history, tires, etc. The next room is a short film about the arrival of the Shuttle in LA. Very well done. As you exit, they take the purple chip and they exchange it for, i believe a white chip to gain entrance to see the Shuttle.
In the Shuttle Pavilion where Spaceship Endeavour is reposed in the horizontal position. It’s resting on what I assume is part of the transport it came on. I guess if you’re tall enough, like Kareem Abdul Jabbar you can probably touch the Shuttle. Even though you’re vertically challenged the Shuttle is so so close. You can observe all the tiles, which are individually numbered, each tile is unique. Also they left all the scratches and battle scars from all the laser blasts, which is so cool.
The shelter where the Shuttle is being exhibited is only temporary. Until then the museum is trying to scrape up enough funds to build a permanent wing to house Endeavour. Their plan is to prop it up vertically and mounted it to the side of the external fuel tank. There’s suppose to be catwalks so you can peer inside various sections but I don’t think you’ll get a closer look than the way it’s situated now. My suggestion is to go now before it’s too late and get there early so you’re not knee deep in Munchkins from hoards of elementary schools.
And may The FORCE Be With You!
PS. I have an idea for the gift store. If it’s not too expensive to produce, why not sell Shuttle tiles by themselves or modify them as hot plates/​hot cup coasters?

It’s a very nice shuttle. This was the first time that I’ve ever seen one. Pretty cool stuff.

The Space Shuttle Weekend had drawn an end. I had followed it from the Beginning of it’s L.A. Tour near LAX on La Tijera and Sepulveda so I felt it would be fitting to see it reach its destination at the California ScienCenter @ Exposition Park.
The day had started with me taking care of some personal business early that Sunday morning and around 10am I thought to myself I might as well go down and see the Shuttle Endeavour as I’ll never get to see the sight of a Space Ship cruising through city streets ever again. Plus, when I saw it Friday morning it was still too dark to appreciate it very well so seeing it up close in the day time would be very nice.
Figuring it would be a mad house at Exposition park, I decided to take the Metro Expo line and avoid having any Parking issues.
It was a little past 10:30 when I arrived only to find every major walkway in to the park was barricaded so I had to walk on Vermont going south towards Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, and as soon as I looked forward there she was crossing the street. What a beautiful sight I thought to myself as I saw the Shuttle all the way from about 4 regular city blocks away on Exposition and Vermont.
The heat started to kick in early that day but I didn’t let it phase me as I got closer to the mob of people surrounding the Shuttle and by the time I joined the crowd my eyes were already stinging from the sweat pouring into them. Being stuck in between all those people didn’t help either. There were already reports of people passing out from heat stroke and dehydration and believe that 10 minutes into that crowd I was already thirsty and wanting an ice cold water but moving across to the other side towards the entry onto Bill Robertson Lane was more of a mission than a simple walk. I already had thoughts that the Endeavour would get through before I would and she had Trees and light poles as an obstacle at 2mph.
About an hour had passed and I finally got to the other end, just as Endeavour was about to turn and the volunteers along with law enforcement personnel were asking everyone to turn into Lot 1 just to go back into Lot 2 where there were thousands of people more waiting. Needless to say, I spent the vast majority of the day there. about 1:30−2pm the Shuttle finally made it on the grassy area in front to the Natural History museum and getting ready to go the the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center (the Hangar).
It was a very exiting day, and I don’t think there will every be any words that can describe this experience at least for a Nerd like me. It was a pure feel good day (regardless of who hot it got) and it just made me feel proud to be an American seeing as what we can achieve. It’s sad to know that the era of the Space Shuttle has come to it’s end, but it is only the next step in the Space Pioneering and knowing how Space Shuttle Endeavour has inspired many young minds… the Future of NASA and the Space Program will be in good hands. As one of many Angelinos, I’d like to Welcome you Space Shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles, and in local celebrity fashion you already know how to make an entrance!
Semper Fidelis.

Didn’t start this Unilocal page. Just happened to see it come up when I was searching for businesses.
Just so happens, I went to see Endeavour last night as she was paused at the intersection of Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Blvd.
There were loads of people there, and even more people lining the route she was headed, toward the ScienCenter.
Blockades had been put up to keep people from getting too close, but you could still get quite a good look at her. She’s covered in tiling that actually looks pretty fragile.
It was a bit surreal standing there, looking up at this great piece of machinery, the final shuttle, and seeing it between a Louisiana Fried Chicken, Krispy Kreme, and a Walmart.
People were selling bacon-​wrapped hot dogs out of shopping carts, and everywhere the lit LCD screens of cameras and phones hovered above the horde.
When I read they were going to take Endeavour through the streets like LACMA did that giant rock, destined to become their Levitated Mass, I sort of laughed at the notion of a repeated performance of titanic things rolling through the city again. They wanted L.A. to see it, and so they have.
There was excited chatter from people who said they’d never been to the ScienCenter in their lives or even given NASA much thought. They held children aloft and told them to remember this sight for the rest of their lives.
I felt unified with these people. When the engine roared, ready to continue on her way, the crowd roared with pride. Absolutely amazing.