Shuttle Endeavour pays tribute to Giffords

HOUSTON?? The space shuttle Endeavour took off atop a modified transport plane from a Houston airport Thursday, continuing its journey to retirement in California, where it will be put on permanent display in a museum.

Along the way, Endeavour is due to pass low over several places, including Tucson, Ariz., the home of the last person to fly a shuttle, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The couple recently moved back to Tucson from Houston, where Giffords was recovering from serious injuries she suffered in a 2011 attack in which a gunman killed six people and wounded Giffords and 12 others.

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Thursday's flyover, which Kelly requested, gives NASA a chance to honor Giffords' legacy as a longtime advocate for American human spaceflight, NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone told The Associated Press in an email. She said no additional costs would be incurred by honoring Kelly's request.

Bittersweet moment
Endeavour's visit to Houston was a stopover on the route from NASA's Kennedy Space Center to California. Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday to watch the shuttle land in Houston for its overnight stay. It was an exciting but bittersweet moment for many residents who felt spurned that the Space City wasn't chosen as the final home for one of the retired shuttles.

"I think that it's the worst thing that they can do, rotten all the way," said 84-year-old Mary Weiss, clinging to her walker just before Endeavour landed after flying low over Gulf Coast towns, New Orleans and then downtown Houston and its airports.

Houston has long tied its fortune to a mix of oil and NASA. Astronauts train in the humid, mosquito-ridden city, and many call it home years after they retire. NASA's Johnson Space Center and an adjacent museum hug Galveston Bay.

The city's bid for a shuttle was rejected after NASA retired the fleet last summer, in line with the White House's plan to focus on the commercialization of low-Earth-orbit operations and new spacecraft for exploration beyond Earth orbit.

As a consolation prize, Houston got a replica that used to be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center. "The one we're getting is a toy. An important toy, but a toy nonetheless," said Scott Rush, 54, of Crystal Beach, Texas.

Texas celebration
Still, people came out in droves Wednesday, waving American flags and toting space shuttle toys, cameras and cellphones.

Back-to-back delays in the ferry flight resulted in one day being cut from the Houston visit. After landing, the Endeavour rolled slowly in front of the cheering crowd. It circled and preened like a runway model, giving awed spectators an opportunity to take pictures from a variety of angles.

"I want to go on it," said 3-year-old Joshua Lee as he headed to the landing area with his mother and grandmother.

Joshua's mother, Jacqueline Lee of Houston, viewed the landing as an educational opportunity.

"I don't know if he'll get to see this again," Lee said.

Heading for California
The shuttle took off after sunrise Thursday, riding piggyback on a jumbo jet. It's booked to stop at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas, before heading to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif. After spending a night there, the shuttle will head to Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.

Along the way Thursday, the shuttle's itinerary called for low passes over Houston, downtown Austin, which is the Texas capital, the White Sands Missile Range and NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, and finally, Tucson.

In mid-October, Endeavour will be transported down city streets to the California Science Center, its permanent home.

NASA still plays a large role in Houston, and astronaut Clayton Anderson, who lived on the International Space Station from June to November 2007, encouraged people to focus on a new era of space exploration.

"The shuttles are a wonderful legacy, a huge part of Houston, but now it's time to look to the future," said Anderson, who lives in the Houston suburb of League City.

This is the last flight for a space shuttle. Atlantis will remain at Kennedy for display, and Discovery is already at the Smithsonian Institution, parked at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia since April. The prototype shuttle Enterprise, which was used for aerodynamic tests but never fliew in outer space, is on display at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Endeavour ? the replacement for the destroyed Challenger shuttle ? made its debut in 1992 and flew 25 times before it was retired. It logged 123 million miles in space and circled Earth nearly 4,700 times.

This report was supplemented by NBC News.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49100521/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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