HOUSTON – The retired Space Shuttle Endeavour has been cleared to stopover in the Bayou City, NASA said Tuesday.
This comes after a two-day delay brought on by weather.
The shuttle, piggybacking on specially-fitted NASA 747, will land at Ellington Field around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. The spacecraft is on its way to Los Angeles where it will be prepped for permanent display.
NASA said its meteorologists have evaluated the weather, and the shuttle should be able to finally come to Houston for an overnight stay. It will continue on to California on Thursday morning.
The shuttle will be available for public viewing Sept. 19 until 9 p.m.
After landing at Ellington, Endeavour will stop near the NASA Hangar 990 pedestrian gate. The public will be able to view it from as close as 100 feet away starting about 30 minutes after it is parked. Public viewing will continue until 9 p.m. Wednesday. Endeavour’s departure from Ellington is planned for about sunrise on Thursday, Sept. 20.
If you can’t make it down to NASA for the showing, don’t worry. On Wednesday, the 747-Endeavour combo plan to fly approximately 1,500 feet above various areas of Houston, Clear Lake, and Galveston—including the Johnson Space Center. The flight time will occur between 9 and 10:30 a.m.
The specific route was not announced, so Houstonians are advised to keep their eyes on the sky. NASA also encouraged the public to report shuttle spottings on Twitter via the hashtag #SpotTheShuttle and #OV105.
