On Thursday, aged space shuttle Endeavour arrived on the West Coast for the last stage of its transcontinental retirement journey, allowing people a closer look at the shuttle that carried out 25 space missions.
The Endeavour is named for the first ship commanded by British explorer James Cook, and its assembly was completed in 1991 at a cost of $1.7 billion, according to CNN. The shuttle was built as a replacement for the Challenger that tragically exploded shortly after take-off in 1986, killing all crew.
Along with its sister shuttles, the Discovery, Enterprise, and Atlantis, the Endeavour will now become a museum item after NASA shut down the shuttle program in 2011.
As it headed towards Edwards Air Force Base in California, it made a fly-over in Tucson, Arizona, paying homage to NASA workers as well as former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly.
"That's my spaceship," said Kelly, the last commander aboard the Endeavour, as the couple watched the shuttle go around Tucson, according to the Associated Press.
The former U.S. Congresswoman was critically injured by a gunshot wound to head while speaking at a public event early last year, but survived against all odds. She has since recovered parts of her ability to walk, speak, read and write.
Giffords received standing ovations by House representatives when she resigned her former position.
Endeavour's final destination will be California Science Center in Los Angeles, but the old shuttle still has a few legs left of its journey.
If weather permits, Endeavour will do a number of Friday flyovers in California, over Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
After its arrival in Los Angeles, the shuttle will be taken off the modified Boeing 747 that has served as its carrier, and moved on roads the last distance through downtown Los Angeles, October 12-13.
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