California Science Center starts complex process to display Space Shuttle Endeavour vertically

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A highly technical process is underway in Los Angeles to put NASA’s retired Space Shuttle Endeavour on display in the vertical launch position complete with external tank and two solid rocket boosters. Workers used a crane Thursday to hoist the bottom segments of the boosters into the California Science Center’s future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. The center is currently under construction in Exposition Park. The segments had to be precisely positioned so that the entire assembly can be stacked properly. The 20-story-tall display will stand atop a massive concrete slab supported by so-called base isolators to protect Endeavour from earthquakes.