The Endeavor space shuttle takes flight over the Bay Area marking the end of space shuttle program

By Aaron Whitaker

On Friday, September 21, at about 9:30am, thousands of people throughout the Bay Area turned their cameras to the sky as the Space Shuttle Endeavor was flown on top of a Boeing 747 Jet.   The showing of the NASA space shuttle commemorated the retirement of the Endeavor and the end of the 30-year space shuttle program.

According to San Jose Mercury News, the space shuttle was supposed to arrive at the Bay Area at 8:30am, but was delayed for about an hour in order to help contend with the foggy weather the Bay Area experiences.  The Space shuttle began its voyage into the Bay Area after a flyover at the state capitol in Sacramento.  It first flew over Walnut Creek, Oakland, and Hayward.  It then flew northward over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  At 10:50am, it flew south and did a flyover at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.

The shuttle and its carrier began their journey across the southern United States on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, stopping in Houston, Texas, and Edwards Air Force Base in California before flying over Northern California and ending its journey at the California Science Center in Los Angeles which would become its new, permanent home.  The spectacle drew crowds from every corner of the Bay Area.  Everyone wanted to witness the end of an era.  Although the space shuttle program has come to an end, NASA says it still plans to keep the space program alive.  “We’re not done yet,” said Arnold, 76, who started his career working on the Apollo program with NASA.  “I have the dream of putting people on Mars.”[i]