'This achievement underscores our commitment to advancing science learning and creating opportunities for inspiration,' said Jeffrey Rudolph, president and chief executive officer of the California Science Center, in a statement. 4), followed by the port, or left-side rocket on Tuesday. The starboard, or right-side booster was completed on Monday (Dec. Standing atop metal and wood scaffolding, workers then secured the hardware by inserting 195 one-inch-diameter (2.54-centimeter) metal pins. Just one month after crane operators hoisted into place the large segments for the two solid rocket boosters (SRBs), they were back in motion this week topping off the towering rockets with the forward assemblies.Ĭomprised of a nose cap, frustum, ordnance ring and forward skirt, each 27-foot-tall (8.2-meter), 10,000-pound (4,500-kilogram) assembly was raised from the street and lifted more than 100 feet (30.5 meters) into the air before being lowered onto a booster. The work to stand up two rockets for the launchpad-like exhibit of NASA's retired space shuttle Endeavour has been capped - literally and figuratively - with the addition of two nose cones.Īs the California Science Center prepares to take Endeavour off of public display for the next few years, the first major components for the orbiter's vertical exhibit are now complete at the construction site for the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles.

Space shuttle endeavour