NASA: Space Shuttle Retirement

NASA retired its remaining space shuttle fleet in 2011, after 30 years of service. Each space shuttle was transferred to an educational institution or museum to be put on display. Space shuttle Discovery was transferred to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum - Udvar Hazy Center in Dulles, Virginia just outside of Washington, DC in April of 2012. Space shuttle Endeavour was flown to Los Angeles later that year to make its new home at the California Science Center. Both shuttles were flown from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a specially rigged Boeing 747 to their respective new homes. Endeavour traversed 12 miles snaking through the streets of Los Angeles over three days from LAX to the California Science Center. The images in this series were made while on assignment for NASA Headquarters, and are of these two events.