Sunday morning i usually like to get out and go for a run, but after running 3 days last week, plus basketball practice it was a good day to take a rest. Joy decided it would be a good day to go to the California Science Center and check out the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The Science Center is a donation base entrance, but to see the actual shuttle is $2/person for a reserved time to enter the pavilion.
We got there about two hours before our scheduled time (when we got there, they were letting in anyone with a ticket) and explored the museum fully before going to see the shuttle. Its been a while since i’ve been back to this museum and i was pretty happy to see that they’ve added an eco-part of the museum which includes some interactive exhibits showing how animals survive in different climates of the world.
The thing that surprised me was that they have an over/under aquarium which we saw from up top before and noticed how deep it was, and when we left and went down stairs it led to an interactive conversation with a diver. Its definitely not as big as some of the other ones we’ve been to, but its nice that we can go to one basically for free when ever we want.
On the third floor of the museum is a huge photo gallery of the story of the Shuttle being delivered to the museum. There was something touching about seeing the progression of the the shuttle from flying over all the California landmarks, and finally making its way down the streets of Los Angeles. This is where it got emotional for me to see the care it took to move the shuttle inch by inch, seeing the joy of people just seeing it roll down the street, and the stories written by the children about their tears of happiness.
Once you’re ready to see the shuttle, you’ll enter the gallery exhibit where you can learn about all the workings of the shuttle and crew life onboard. There is video on how they go to the bathroom, and eat, with an option to pay to go on a shuttle flight simulator.
Finally when you’re ready to see the shuttle you enter the large temporary hangar where the shuttle will live until the final exhibit space is finished being built. Its so large that the only way to get a full picture of the shuttle is to stand at the very corners of the hangar or use the panoramic setting on your iPhone. We spent a good 30-45 minutes just walking around and around the Endeavour and finally left when we got hungry.
