Endeavour’s final journey

NASA officials completed the delicate task Saturday of removing space shuttle Endeavour from the back of a modified Boeing 747 after its tour of California.

The elaborate operation began late Friday night, according to NASA, as cranes gently lowered a giant 37,000-pound yellow sling that was used to lift the 78-ton shuttle from the airplane.

More: Endeavour delicately removed from 747 with cranes

The Endeavour as it arrives at the United hangar at Los Angeles International Airport Friday after it's cross-country trip from Florida. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times))

Space shuttle Endeavour has touched down at LAX, marking its final landing after a three-decade career in space and bringing an end to NASA’s space shuttle program.

As elsewhere along its choreographed flyover in California, eager fans of the shuttle — filled with both curiosity and nostalgia — gathered at the United Airlines hangar to watch the Endeavour taxi in. A man holding an American flag popped out of the roof of the cockpit of the 747 carrying Endeavour on its back.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

People stand along Aviation Blvd. as the space shuttle Endeavour lands at LAX for the last time on Friday.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Shuttle fans spot the space shuttle Endeavour as it flies over Griffith Park Observatory and the Hollywood Hills Friday.

Kids waited anxiously in the playground, holding sketches of the Endeavour and waiting to color in the final details. They sat in circles with their classes, looking at the sky and saying over and over ‘when is the Endeavour coming?’

When it finally came into sight, hundreds of students jumped up and ran toward it, pointing and screaming. Most were at a loss for words, saying over and over ‘that was so cool’ and ‘did you see it? Did you see it?’

(Katie Falkenberg / For The Times)

Eduardo Garcia, age 10, left, Michael Mireles, age 10, center, and Dennis Ramos, age 9, right, make paper airplanes as they learn about the mathematics, science, and creativity that went into making the shuttle Endeavour and the plane it flies on top of, in their fifth grade classroom at the California Science Center School. Later in the day, the space shuttle Endeavour will fly over their school.

The space shuttle Endeavour move through the Central Coast of California and over Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as it began its entrance to L.A. County.

Join the Times’ William Hennigan and Scott Gold at 11:30 a.m. for a live discussion with Marco Caceres, senior analyst and director of space studies at aerospace defense industry consultant Teal Group, and Ron Garan, a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force and NASA astronaut who flew on the Endeavour and lived on the International Space Station. The shuttle will tour landmarks around the Southland before landing at LAX.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

LA resident Edgar Herrera holds up grandson Grant Herrera, 3, as they wait for a glimpse of the space shuttle Endeavour at Griffith Park Observatory. The shuttle is scheduled to land at LAX Friday afternoon after flyovers of Southland landmarks.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Tanton Harber, 7 , of Santa Monica, peaks out from his astronaut themed tent, while camping out on Imperial Ave. in El Segundo, overlooking the runway at LAX. He was with his brother and parents, waiting to view the arrival of the space shuttle Endeavour.

A spectator takes a photo of the Space Shuttle Endavour as it flies on top of a modified 747 jumbo jet over the Golden Gate Bridge while traveling to Los Angeles Friday in Sausalito. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

The space shuttle Endeavour flew over a sunny San Francisco, gliding over the cranes at the Port of Oakland, the glittering waters of the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Endeavour, riding atop a 747, passed the Golden Gate Bridge twice, thrilling crowds of pedestrians and bicyclists on the bridge’s sidewalk. A crowd of adults and children had their cellphones and snapshot cameras aimed at the skies when Endeavour appeared as a dot, coming in from the southeast about 10:15 a.m.

As the space shuttle Endeavour lifted off Friday, the final flight attracted the tweets of excited Californians across the state. From Palmdele, the craft made its first appearance over Sacramento.

The space shuttle Endeavour has departed on its final flight, leaving Edwards Air Force Base for its farewell tour over California.

The space shuttle Endeavour arrives at Edwards Air Force Base on Thursday. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

NASA officials are postponing the takeoff of the space shuttle Endeavour by one hour Friday morning because of fog in San Francisco.

The new schedule calls for Endeavour to take off from Edwards Air Force Base in northern Los Angeles County at 8:15 a.m. instead of 7:15 a.m. That would mean Endeavour would fly over the Capitol in Sacramento at about 9:30 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m., before flying over San Francisco and Monterey.

The shuttle will begin a California tour early Friday morning, and is expected to return to Los Angeles around 11:30 a.m. (Tom Reinken, Raoul Rañoa / Los Angeles Times)

The space shuttle Endeavour’s historic aerial tour of Los Angeles will be the first and last time a shuttle is flown over the city — a sight you’re not going to want to miss. More: Where to go to see Endeavour

The space shuttle Endeavour mounted on NASA's carrier aircraft flies over Edwards Air Force Base on Thursday. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

With shouts of happiness and “Here she is!”, a group of hand-picked NASA fans and self-described “space geeks” welcome the space shuttle Endeavour to California’s Edwards Air Force Base on Thursday afternoon. The shuttle departed from Houston on Thursday shortly after 6 a.m. PDT, made a refueling stop in El Paso, and then performed low-pass flyovers of New Mexico and Arizona before arriving at Edwards Air Force Base.

The retired orbiter flies over Tucson on Thursday to honor former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was gravely injured in a 2011 shooting at an event in her district that killed six others. Giffords’ husband is retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who commanded Endeavour’s final mission last year.

The space shuttle Endeavour is ferried over San Jacinto Monument in Houston on Wednesday. (Sheri Locke / NASA)

The space shuttle Endeavour landed safely Wednesday morning at Houston’s Ellington Field, where Texans got a glimpse of the massive artifact before it embarked on its final journey to California.

The space shuttle Endeavour rides atop a Boeing 747 after taking off from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Perched atop a modified Boeing 747, the retired orbiter departs Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:22 a.m. EDT Wednesday en route to Houston, the first leg of a two-day trek to California.

The California Science Center receives final approval to chop down trees to make room for the space shuttle Endeavour as it rolls through the streets of Los Angeles. Nearly 400 trees will be cut down in Inglewood and South Los Angeles in the 12-mile route between LAX and the shuttle’s permanent home in Exposition Park. (Of those, 119 are in South Los Angeles, 124 are in Westchester, 128 are in Inglewood and the rest are near LAX).

More: Center gets final OK to cut trees in space shuttle’s path

The 12-mile trip from LAX to the California Science Center will have more bumps than a flight into space, but crews have worked hard to smooth the path.
More: Shuttle’s journey is carefully choreographed