NASA shares images of Endeavour’s final flight to Los Angeles

NASA said in an announcement published Thursday 12 November 2026 that its photographers documented the images made on Sept. 21, 2012, as space shuttle Endeavour flew on top of the agency’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the last time over Southern California. Millions watched the flight. NASA’s photographers and videographers helped prepare the flight to Los Angeles and decide where the aircraft would fly around California.

NASA said Endeavour’s new home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles will reopen the weekend of Nov. 13. The shuttle will be displayed upright in launch position. It will soon be seen in its permanent home inside the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Downtown Los Angeles, along with some images from the final flight.

Lori Losey, lead videographer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, called chasing the final ferry flight a leading highlight of her 37-year career at NASA. She advocated for two chase aircraft in the LA area, with one dedicated to photography and one to video. The teams alternated altitudes and swapped positions between landmarks to capture imagery. Two photographers and one videographer, all based at NASA Armstrong, helped prepare the flight and decide where the aircraft would fly.

Jim Ross, NASA Armstrong’s lead photographer, said people in the Los Angeles area came out to support the flyover. The photographers saw supporters at Griffith Park and Disneyland. Carla Thomas said the standing-room-only crowd below the California State Capitol in Sacramento filled her with pride. The journey required preplanning with the California Science Center, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Los Angeles International Airport, and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA Armstrong’s F/A-18s and an F-15 escorted Endeavour and carried the photo and video teams in the back seats. The route included Dodger Stadium, the Getty Center, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, the Golden Gate Bridge, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and the Santa Monica Pier. Endeavour delivered the first components for the International Space Station to orbit and went on to complete 25 missions.