The California Science Center in Los Angeles, United States, will open the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center to the public on November 13 local time. The center will permanently display the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Covering approximately 18,600 square meters, the new facility doubles the center’s existing exhibition space. It will feature 100 collection items, including rare historical artifacts from the aerospace field, and 100 hands-on exhibits. The project is the third and final phase of the center’s facility development plan, which has been carried out in three stages over 30 years.
Visitors will be able to view a complete Space Shuttle system—consisting of the orbiter that actually flew in space, solid rocket boosters, and an external fuel tank—in its launch configuration at a height equivalent to approximately 20 stories.
The facility consists of three galleries. The Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, standing approximately 200 feet (about 61 meters) tall, displays Endeavour in its launch configuration. In addition to exhibits on the thermal protection system, airlock, and all 135 missions of the Space Shuttle program, it will include a memorial exhibit honoring crew members who lost their lives during the program.
Hands-on exhibits include the Launch Tower, which rises alongside the shuttle to a height of approximately 43 meters and leads to a glass-floor observation deck above the nose; the Shuttle Descent Slide, with a vertical drop of approximately 14 meters simulating atmospheric re-entry; a replica flight deck; and the Orbiter Landing Simulator.
The Korean Air Aviation Gallery will display more than 12 actual aircraft, ranging from gliders to fighter jets. They include a Hawker Siddeley Harrier T.4, Grumman F11F Tiger, and Pitts Special S-1C. Visitors can also enter the forward approximately 21-meter section of a Boeing 747 formerly operated by Korean Air, where an onboard theater will screen a five-minute film depicting a flight from Los Angeles to Seoul.
Other exhibits include Wing Shape and Distance, which lets visitors experiment with how wing shapes affect flight distance; Launch a Drone Mission, in which visitors carry out a drone mission over a Los Angeles cityscape; Wear a Wing, which allows visitors to experience lift by wearing foam wings; and the Air Race Flight Simulator, featuring a choice of the Pitts Special, JN-4 Jenny, or Velie Monocoupe.
The Kent Kresa Space Gallery will display the Mercury-Redstone 2 capsule, Gemini 11 capsule, Apollo-Soyuz command module, and more. Visitors will be able to walk through an actual solid rocket booster, experience operating a Mars rover, take an immersive journey through the interior of the International Space Station, and try on a digital spacesuit.
Also opening that day is the photo exhibition “Endeavour’s Long Journey.” It chronicles Endeavour’s final flight over California, its 68-hour journey of approximately 19 kilometers through the streets of Los Angeles and Inglewood to the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, and the six-month vertical assembly process. Screenings of four IMAX films will also begin.
Admission is free, but a timed-entry reservation system will be introduced due to the expected large number of visitors. Advance reservations carry a US$4 processing fee, and visitors without reservations may face restricted entry or may not be admitted.
Architectural design was handled by ZGF, engineering by Arup, construction by MATT Construction, and exhibition design by Evidence Design. The total project budget is US$450 million, with more than US$415 million raised to date from over 1,100 donors. Major donors include the Samuel Oschin Family Foundation and the State of California, while Korean Air and the Kresa Family Foundation are also major supporters.
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