A view of the front panels of Space Shuttle Endeavour as Endeavour begins its journey to its permenant home in Los Angeles, in the early morning hours Oct 12, 2012. Over the next two days, the 170,000-pound (77,272 kg) shuttle will travel at no more than 2 mph (3.2 km per hour) along a 12-mile (19km) route from LAX to it's final home at the California Science Center. NASA Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011 after 30 years and 135 missions. AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck
LOS ANGELES (AP) - In a massive feat of parallel parking, the space shuttle Endeavour has been backed into a Los Angeles parking lot for a pause on its final journey to a museum.
The 170,000-pound spacecraft was cheered by hundreds of viewers Friday morning as it made its predawn journey from a Los Angeles International Airport hangar through the Westchester neighborhood.
The shuttle is crawling at 2 mph on a two-day journey to the California Science Center, where it will spend its retirement. It hit the streets at around 2 a.m. as a crowd of people snapped photos and applauded.
The shuttle went about three miles before stopping at around 5:30 a.m. Its final nine-mile trek will begin in the afternoon.
The first leg was delayed about two hours by a minor problem with the shuttle's carrier. Endeavour also and made several stops so crews could prune trees in the path of its 75-foot wingspan.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)