Endeavour On Its Way To California; Sacramento Flyover Planned For Friday
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The space shuttle Endeavour is now on its way to California.
Endeavour, flying atop a Boeing 747, took off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 4:22 a.m. Pacific time.
The shuttle then will fly to NASA facilities in Mississippi, Louisiana and lastly Houston, where it will stay overnight.
Endeavour will reach Edwards Air Force Base Thursday afternoon where it will refuel for its California tour.
The Capital City gets a one-time glimpse of the shuttle on Friday morning. It's expected to fly over Sacramento around 8:30 or 9 a.m.
"A period in our country that's ended now and we sort of get one last chance to see that," West Campus High School teacher Mike Hotell said.
This physics teacher has a special love for U.S. space flight. His friend, former roommate and fraternity brother was one of Endeavour's space walkers.
"He was out there hoping I'm sure that the cable or rope or whatever didn't break," he said.
A Boeing 747 will carry the shuttle on its back as it flies above the Capitol.
Friday should be a nice day for the viewing, too.
"Sacramento will be pretty lucky with clear skies and nice conditions out," said Holly Osborne with the National Weather Service.
You don't need to be at the top of any downtown towers to get a good view. You can come to any parking garage. But if you have a problem with heights, there is always the river walk. They say the shuttle is going to make a loop over downtown Sacramento, so what better view than that?
Or can just take NASA's word for it and come to the Capitol lawn and look up.
For those who know about NASA's revolutionary space shuttle program, this will be a nostalgic event.
"Now watching it start and end in my lifetime seems kind of eerie," Hotell said. "Maybe it just means I'm old."
