Retired in May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour was ferried to Los Angeles on 21 September 2012, moved through city streets from the airport to Exposition Park on 12-14 October 2012, and put on display on 30 October 2012. After having seen the moves a few weeks earlier, I am visiting Endeavour again, on the second full day of the exhibit, Halloween.

Endeavour will be kept in this temporary exhibit space, Samuel Oschin Pavilion, until 2017, when the permanent Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center is planned to open, and Endeavour is to be displayed there in the launch configuration complete with boosters and external fuel tank.

Details of the crew hatch area. The hatch leads directly to the mid-deck where most of the crew worked and lived while in space. The interior cabins were built strictly for in-space use, and not capable of handling visitors, so the condition for displaying the Shuttle strictly stipulates that visitors are not allowed to touch or enter the Shuttle.

Also a good look at the black carbon-fiber tiles and the white insulation pieces protecting the Shuttle.

Endeavour, built in 1987-1991 as a replacement for the destroyed Challenger, was the only Shuttle to be named by elementary and secondary school students in a nationwide competition. Like other Space Shuttles, Endeavour is named after a historical ship: HMS Endeavour, which was Captain James Cook's ship in 1768-1771. Because of the British namesake, Endeavour's name is spelled in the British manner, rather than the American "Endeavor."