Space Shuttle Endeavour to Go on Permanent Display at California Science Center in November
NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour will be permanently exhibited at the California Science Center's new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center starting November 13, 2026, displayed in launch position with its boosters and external tank.
The California Science Center has announced that Endeavour, NASA's final space shuttle, will go on permanent display at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on November 13, 2026. The new 200,000-square-foot addition to the museum will house the shuttle alongside a collection of 100 artifacts, including a selection of rare and historic aerospace objects.
Endeavour has technically been on display horizontally at the California Science Center since 2012, but this new exhibit will showcase the shuttle in launch position, complete with its solid boosters and external tank. Visitors will be able to ascend a 140-foot gantry elevator next to the shuttle, simulating the experience astronauts have right before boarding and launch.
NASA originally built Endeavour as a replacement shuttle following the Challenger disaster in 1986. Starting in 1992, it was used in multiple missions: repairing and deploying satellites, servicing the Hubble Space Telescope, and ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station. The shuttle was formally retired in 2011, and NASA announced it would spend its permanent retirement in Los Angeles in 2012. That same year, Endeavour made a slow and perilous 12-mile land trip from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center, where it has been housed ever since.
