A Proud Bird Comes Home

摘要

More people converged on Griffith Observatory for the Space Shuttle Endeavour flyover last fall than at any other time in the Observatory's 78-year history, and that event was documented in the December, 2012, issue of the Griffith Observer (Please see "Endeavour Shuttles Huge Crowds to Griffith Observatory" by Mark Pine.). By late October, Endeavour had landed in the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion at the California Science Center. (Please see "The Long, Long Shuttle" in the January, 2013, Griffith Observer.). Maneuvering from Los Angeles airspace to Endeavour's new hangar in Exposition Park in downtown Los Angeles took over a month, and the spaceship commanded the attention of southern California and inspired sustained affection as it negotiated the streets. With a disdain for circadian rhythms, Matt Ventimiglia, a Museum Guide at Griffith Observatory, an eclipse photographer, and a world explorer, embraced the endeavor of Endeavour pursuit and stalked the Space Shuttle on its unlikely municipal trajectory. He reports here how it became a new Los Angeles icon.