It’s true, Space Shuttle Endeavour flying over Downey

DOWNEY – The space shuttle Endeavour is expected to fly over Downey between 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. about 11:30 a.m. Friday, according to a statement from the city.

The shuttle, which is fastened to a 747 airplane, landed today at Edwards Air Force Base and is scheduled to take a tour of Southern California on Friday before it lands at LAX and rolls to its permanent home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park.

Like all the shuttles, Endeavour was born in Downey, where the lion’s share of its parts were manufactured before they were assembled in Palmdale, according to Larry Latimer of the Aerospace Legacy Foundation.

The arrival of the Endeavour comes at an opportune time for Downey, which recently decided to house and preserve the life-size space shuttle mock-up.

The mostly wooden model was used to design and engineer all the shuttles.

The  mock-up was recently moved to a tent on Columbia Way as the city tries to raise money to refurbish it and build a display structure near the Columbia Memorial Space Center.

The city is offering tours that will bring viewers up close to the shuttle at 11 a.m and 2 p.m. every Saturday.

Those who want to see Endeavour fly over the city are invited to watch the flight at the Columbia Memorial Space Center, 12400 Columbia Way. Please call the Space Center at 562-231-1200 for more information.