Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

Today, the Endeavour left Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) rolling along on a 160-wheeled carrier past “Shuttle Xing” signs. Hundreds of spectators took photos as the 170,000-pound Endeavour slowly made its way, with its wings spanning the road! Over two days, Endeavor will travel, at a maximum speed of 2 miles/hour, the last 12 miles to its destination, the California Science Center.

“This is unlike anything we’ve ever moved before,” said Jim Hennessy, a spokesman for Sarens, the contract mover.

SFGate.com described the journey:

After a nine-hour layover, Endeavour hit the streets Friday afternoon toward the suburb of Inglewood, home of the iconic Randy’s Donuts shop. As it rolled past front lawns, some homeowners climbed on their roofs for a better view.

The shuttle will take another hours-long break as crews re-route power lines, causing temporary outages to several hundred homes. It will later be transferred to a special dolly towed by Toyota pickup truck for the move over Interstate 405. The automaker received a permit to film a commercial.

Shuffling a five-story-tall shuttle through urban streets was an undertaking that took nearly a year to plan. Because the 78-foot wingspan hangs over sidewalks in some locations, police enforced rolling street and sidewalk closures along the route.

Shuttle Endeavour replaced Challenger, which exploded during liftoff in 1986, killing seven astronauts. Endeavour was launched 25 times, performed 4,700 orbits of Earth, and traveled 123 million miles!

One of the trickiest parts occurs Saturday when Endeavour treks through a narrow residential street with apartment buildings on both sides. With its wings expected to intrude into driveways, residents have been told to stay indoors until the shuttle passes.

The route was selected after ruling out other options. Dismantling the shuttle would have ruined the delicate heat tiles. Helicoptering it to its destination was not feasible. Neither was crossing on freeways since the shuttle is too big to fit through the underpasses. The cost of transporting it cross-town was estimated at over $10 million.

-Bill at

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