ZGF Architects has completed the installation of the decommissioned Space Shuttle Endeavour and orbiter system as a part of their Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center expansion at the California Science Center museum in Los Angeles.

The unique project will culminate in a three-level level scheme that includes 150 different exhibitions, the largest of which, a 200-foot-tall central gallery space, is set to be used as a new permanent display for the 122-foot-long retired NASA orbiter. 

Video courtesy California Science Center

Since July, the construction team at Exposition Park has been busy at work on the “Soft mate” phase of the “Go for Stack” installation process for the space shuttle apparatus. The same painstaking process that decades ago prepared the shuttle for its 25 launches into outer space was once again enacted at the site for the record first time in civilian history. Work to install the solid rocket boosters and external tank preceded the shuttle’s move into place before the entire stack was finally bolted together and secured to a 1,800-ton concrete slab for seismic protection.

Construction of the 200,000-square-foot Center will be completed by the end of 2025. ZGF is working with ARUP to complete the engineering work for the project, which also calls for the creation of a wind tunnel in the ‘Air’ section of its three thematic galleries. Costs for the Endeavour project are around $400 million. 

Here are more photos of the historic lift of the 178,000-pound orbiter.