Figured I'd go ahead and get this started so as not to tie up the processing threads. Max-Q is offering apparel in our shop to commemorate the event for anyone who is interested Patches are available as well (PM me).http://www.maxqent.spreadshirt.com
Has anyone been able to find the proposed route that OV-105 will take when being transported from LAX to the California Science Center? As I'm in Ontario every week working, I'm thinking seriously about getting to a spot along this route and seeing her pass by.
According to officials, the preliminary route envisions the shuttle crossing over the 405 Freeway, traveling through Inglewood on Manchester Boulevard, and then approaching the museum via Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards.
Does anyone know the KSC departure date?
Tempted to save up and merge a business trip to LA with the viewing of Endeavour's arrival. Rather expensive mistake for me if they reschedule though!How confident is September? Or is it just impossible to tell at this stage?
Will there be any stops along the way?
Quote from: hygoex on 04/19/2012 05:47 pmWill there be any stops along the way? Aside from a refueling stop, I have not heard of any.
Is there a good reason why the shuttle arrivals aren't aimed at the weekends? A lot easier to get a whole lot of people outside and looking up when they don't have to be at work.
I think places like Huntsville, New Orleans, Houston, White Sands and Edwards would be very good stop off points.
Quote from: mrhuggy on 04/19/2012 06:50 pmI think places like Huntsville, New Orleans, Houston, White Sands and Edwards would be very good stop off points.Too many and why White Sands? There is no one there.
On a general question for all, will they tow Endeavour on her wheels through the city, or are they planning to use one of the orbiter transporters from KSC?
This will be the longest towing route for any of the orbiters by a large margin.
I haven't seen a time for arrival at LAX on the 20th...only "mid-day." I need to book plane fare this weekend, has anyone seen a more specific time? My flight of choice lands around 9AM. Just trying to figure out if that leaves enough time to get to a decent vantage point...
I'll be LAX on Sept 21st and Oct 5th, think there's any chance I could see her at the airport? I know the move isn't until the week after.
Back here on the departure side...anyone heard details about the KSC flyout? Are they planning a victory lap along the beaches like they did for Discovery?KSCVC is touting a Rocket Garden viewpoint package, but if it's anything like Discovery, the beaches will have a better view.
Locations that Endeavour/NASA 905 will fly over:- Ames Research Center, CA (9/20)
Locations that Endeavour/NASA 905 will fly over:[...]- Dryden Flight Research Center, CA (9/19)[...]
I wonder if NASA JPL will be one of the places that Endeavour flies over once it reaches SoCal?
Quote from: TheFallen on 09/08/2012 01:09 amI wonder if NASA JPL will be one of the places that Endeavour flies over once it reaches SoCal? The collectspace article (http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-090712a.html) specifically mentions the Golden Gate Bridge, Hollywood sign, and JPL as well as "other LA landmarks" (I've heard Disneyland mentioned) as flyover locations.Local radio (KNX) also mentioned a low pass over LAX prior to landing, similar to the Dulles arrival for Discovery.Incidentally, when the NASA jets did their photo mission a couple weeks ago, I believe they flew some segments at 3000', which would provide appropriate terrain clearance around JPL.
If the 11AM landing time holds...
Thanks for everyone's input on locations - but I am still confused on where the best spot is likely to be. I've seen Imperial Hill, the In-N-Out, Proud Birds, etc.. being mentioned. What is the consensus on the most unobstructed, accessible location?
Anyone care to take a guess on what the crowds will be like at any of these locations? I am willing to come the night before or early AM to stake out a spot and meet up with others.
Plan on bringing the DSLR and HD camcorder. I'm torn on what lens would be best for the distances expected from the runway and hanger. I'm thinking either a 28-300mm or 100-400mm, but not sure if 400mm is overkill or not. Any opinions?
I'm curious though, looking at Google Earth the Proud Bird is at the eastern end of runway 25R/L - which direction is the SCA expected to land from? The east or the west?
Quote from: TheFallen on 09/07/2012 08:40 pmLocations that Endeavour/NASA 905 will fly over:- Ames Research Center, CA (9/20)Any Ames locals know if there will be an open-to-the-public event around this? It'll be easier to justify pulling my kid out of school if it is more than "Hey, look up at the sky, there's the space shuttle".
Any word when/where the Shuttle/SCA will fly over San Francisco? Will it likely be a single loop around the bay over the Golden Gate Bridge then departing the area?
Wonderful news they will be taking her on such a good tour. Really nice touch for the centers and those involved with the program outside of KSC.
Any detailed ground track info for KSC/Central Florida would be most welcome.
Quote from: dwfx on 09/11/2012 01:13 amAny word when/where the Shuttle/SCA will fly over San Francisco? Will it likely be a single loop around the bay over the Golden Gate Bridge then departing the area?I'll hazard an educated guess on timeframe: Between 8-10AM, more likely in the second half of the window. The known constraints are sunrise departure from Edwards and arrival in the LA area a little after 11A. Sunrise is 6:38A. It's about an hour to either San Francisco or Sacramento. I would opt for Sacramento first to allow more time for any coastal clouds to burn off.
The inside of the bay is pretty tricky airspace that would conflict with the arrival/departure corridors for SFO and OAK airports. I've included a snapshot of the SFO VFR flyway chart below for context. In very simple terms, flight in the grey shaded circles around SFO and OAK will require more coordination compared with staying outside. In comparison, flight in the areas indicated by the blue shaded arrows is straightforward and doesn't even require talking to ATC.
Roger that, the landing runway is planned to be 25L. Very little chance of the opposite 7R unless the winds are unusual. Discovery's arrival at Dulles was planned for 1R, and despite a fairly strong cross wind, made it fine.The elevated view from Imperial will make for great views of the fly-by's before landing. As indicated, touchdown is 1.5 miles away, with the parking spot at the United hangar also distant.The touchdown from Proud Bird is 500 yards, and should be visible through the perimeter fence. Again, the fly-by's from here will be great, with the 'money shot' being the final approach (all unobstructed) which should be awesome and very close here. After touchdown, maybe a drive up to Imperial to see them parked.They are planning on letting those with a reservation in at 9AM (maybe earlier), so plenty of time to get set up and relax with a coffee! Hopefully the masses up the hill will not be having a nightmare with parking and getting the best spot (maybe camping out overnight there would sort that!). I was amazed at the amount of people that came out at Dulles for Discovery, and have no reason to doubt this last 'chance in a lifetime' will not have even more.BTW, the flight up to Dulles used the callsign 'Pluto 95' and was blocked on flightaware, unfortunately.Fingers crossed for no tech/weather delays. Ciao
Does anyone know how long to expect Endeavour/SCA to remain on runway 25L after touchdown? Will she be moved off the runway to demate area right away, and if so, is the demate area near the UAL hangar and still visible from Imperial Hill?
Quote from: Jon Long on 09/13/2012 04:40 amDoes anyone know how long to expect Endeavour/SCA to remain on runway 25L after touchdown? Will she be moved off the runway to demate area right away, and if so, is the demate area near the UAL hangar and still visible from Imperial Hill?The SCA should be off 25L in a matter of minutes. LAX will need to recover 25L for regular traffic quickly. It's a short taxi over to the ramp in front of the United hangar, so by the time you get out of Proud Bird and over to Imperial Ave, she should already be on the ramp. Once there, you should have plenty of time to get an eyeful as she'll be there for a couple days for demating (which would be a sight in itself).To BritBoy's point on heat haze, it might be worthwhile to plan to go out to Imperial Ave early Friday morning before things heat up.
With 1.6x crop, the 28-300 will be perfect for 25L from Proud Bird. Enough to fit the whole subject in with option to zoom in for close ups, which also look great. Plenty of time to practice if you get in early.I think there was a shot of the United hangar from Imperial posted earlier. Looks a bit distant and obstructed? Maybe get a half decent shot from somewhere along there, though heat haze could be in effect.Does anyone have any word on a FAA TFR being thrown up around LAX for the arrival?Starting the 15,000KM journey to the States tonight! Houston EFD first, which is looking great for public access
Do you think 300mm / 1.6x will be good enough to get decent closeups of Endeavour/SCA when she is on the ramp? I'm not familiar with the ramp location and how close it is to the runway or UAL hangar.My fretting about lenses is just due to me being limited on what I can bring with me this trip - I'm actually piggybacking this visit onto a 10 day trip to Vegas, so I'm limited on how much stuff I can bring. Attempting to have a one lens fits all for this trip, so thinking the 28-300mm would be the most flexible. Just want to make sure it has enough reach. Thanks!
Having shot the shuttle launches a number of times, I'm familiar with settings for good results. I'm not a plane spotter though, so quick question -- shutter speed and metering? Given an IS lens to compensate for hand shake, would you run 1/1000 to freeze the SCA in flight/touchdown? Faster/slower? Would be really unhappy with too slow of a shutter and blur. Also, I've seen mention of other spotters using center-weighted metering instead of a normal evaluative setting. Presume this is to getting a better read on the aircraft against a presumably featureless sky.
I have tickets to view the flyout from the SLF through the visitor center. I have a few of questions.1) Is the SCA/Endeavor combo going to be parked by the MDD Monday morning when spectators arrive or will it have already been taxied to the runway threshold?2) Where do the busses drop off at the SLF?3) Where are you allowed to view from? Is it like the causeway launch viewing where you can pretty much walk as far down as you want to or is there a designated area. Related to this, how close to the runway is the boundary for viewing?4) Also related to #3 are there any obstructions that get in the way of seeing to the end of the runway from the viewing area?
Thanks for the info and especially the photography tip. One last thing, was there enough space on the bleachers not to have to worry that I'll end up standing with people in front of me?
Flightaware will only track if it is on an IFR flight plan and/or under IFR control. If they go VFR to maneuver, you will not get flight aware tracking. Furthermore, flight aware lags....sometimes substantially.
I was looking at the Discovery thread to try and find the route it might take immediately after takeoff and found a link for people to use to track it across the country
Endeavour Flyover Routes Over California DetailedTue, 18 Sep 2012 4:25:42 PM PDTAny time after 8:30 am on Friday September 21, watch for flyovers of Endeavour in the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas. Suggested viewing locations include the State Capitol in Sacramento, some of the San Francisco area museums including the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Chabot Space and Science Center, Exploratorium, Lawrence Hall of Science and the Monterey Bay Aquarium near Santa Cruz and Monterey.Any time after 10:30 am on Friday, September 21, watch for flyovers of Endeavour in the Los Angeles area. You may have an opportunity to see Endeavour passing regional landmarks such as California Science Center, Disneyland, The Getty Center, Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles International Airport and Malibu, among others.
They deviated from this a little though. After they flew out on runway 15 and looped around Cocoa Beach they came back to the visitor center as planned. Then they flew into the sunrise to the east and turned around and came over the visitor center again before going to the north.
That link was blocked during the other move, so no reason to think it will work this time.
Not sure that it was technically blocked.
Quote from: WheelsStop on 09/19/2012 02:40 amNot sure that it was technically blocked.According to NASA public affairs, the FAA purposely blocked public flight tracking of the ferry flight and its associated aircraft, and will be doing so again for Endeavour's ferry flight.
I'll be IN LAX Terminal an hour after Endeavour lands, think I'll be able to see her from there? Have a couple hours before my next flight to walk around, any suggestions where to go?
Quote from: Naito on 09/20/2012 04:15 amI'll be IN LAX Terminal an hour after Endeavour lands, think I'll be able to see her from there? Have a couple hours before my next flight to walk around, any suggestions where to go?Which airline?
Quote from: dwfx on 09/20/2012 06:08 amQuote from: Naito on 09/20/2012 04:15 amI'll be IN LAX Terminal an hour after Endeavour lands, think I'll be able to see her from there? Have a couple hours before my next flight to walk around, any suggestions where to go?Which airline?United
My flight lands at 2:15, so the schedule estimates right now would mean she'd land about an hour and a half before me. It would be a terrible case of "so close yet so far" if I can't see her =( Will try the observation deck, thanks for the suggestion!
Bay Area Discovery Museum, Chabot Space and Science Center, Exploratorium and the Lawrence Hall of Science.
here's a link to a proposed map - it makes sense to me based on air traffic flow in the bay area... even though the airspace is closed it's only closed to VFR traffic and of course IFR traffic/heavy jets will still be flying.http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharpshutter/8007081917/also, nasa is now talking about delaying departure by an hour to allow the fog to clear, so ~9:30-10:45AM in the bay area.
FREE ADMISSION TO THE QUEEN MARY TOMORROW MORNING: The space shuttle Endeavour has flown into orbit 25 times, and tomorrow it is flying over Southern California! To celebrate this historic occasion, as an official flyover location, the Queen Mary will be offering FREE ADMISSION to the ship tomorrow (Sept 21st) between 9:30 and 11am! Just mention the word “Endeavour” at our box office to receive free admission.
Some of my photos from the Ellington Field stopover.