Endeavour

As I have noted on this blog before, it saddens me that the Space Shuttle program has been scuttled. Growing up when I did, getting up in the middle of the night to watch the first lunar landing, each launch of a shuttle was a marvel to behold. 

One can only imagine what the people who put their blood, sweat, tears and even lives into our space program feel about it. Each time the shuttle sailed into space was a testament to man's ingenuity and hard work. 

But alas, I was not consulted when the decision was made. Perhaps I am too sentimental...perhaps the dollars and cents required to keep them flying was to high. I shall never understand the why of it...

Endeavour was finally lodged at its retirement home Monday following a slow weekend parade through city streets that turned out to be a logistical headache. After a 12-mile weave past trees and utility poles that included thousands of adoring onlookers, flashing cameras and even the filming of a TV commercial, Endeavour arrived at the California Science Center Sunday.

Endeavour's arrival in Los Angeles was a homecoming. It may have zipped around the Earth nearly 4,700 times, but its roots are solidly grounded in California. Its main engines were fashioned in the San Fernando Valley. The heat tiles were invented in Silicon Valley. Its "fly-by-wire" technology was developed in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. In 1991, it rolled off the assembly line in the Mojave Desert to replace Challenger, which blew up during liftoff in 1986.