Space Shuttle Endeavour to Fly Near Elk Grove Friday

Updated: Space Shuttle Endeavour made its final journey into lower orbit in May 2011 and it will soon make its final ferry flight—on the back of a Boeing 747 aircraft—from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

And folks in the Elk Grove area may be in for a special treat, since Endeavour is scheduled to conduct low-level flyovers at about 1,500 feet above locations along a planned flight path on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 from a NASA facility at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California to Sacramento and San Francisco.

The Sacramento Bee reported the flyover will include the Capitol building; Elk Grove's Edward Harris Jr. Middle School will send 40 students to see that.

The departure of the shuttle from Florida has been delayed by two days due to weather concerns, pushing back the California flyovers. 

The exact timing of when Endeavour will flyover the region will be determined closer to the flight time because of weather conditions and operational constraints, according to NASA.

"Social media users are encouraged to share their Endeavour sightings using the hashtags #spottheshuttle and #OV105, Endeavour's orbiter vehicle designation," NASA said in a press release.

The aircraft also will conduct a flyover of some Los Angeles sites before landing about 11 a.m. PDT at LAX.

Endeavour will now be an attraction at the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion in Los Angeles as a result of an Oct. 11, 2011 title transfer between NASA and the California Science Center. The public can see it beginning on Oct. 30.

Endeavour's, STS-134 mission, was the space shuttle program's second to last flight. Commander Mark Kelly led the six-person veteran crew, which included Gregory H. Johnson, pilot; Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency's Roberto Vittori, all mission specialists to the International Space Station.

Endeavour completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit, and orbited Earth 4,671 times while traveling 122,883,151 miles.

Stay tuned to Patch for updates on Endeavour's visit!

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