Endeavour, along with Discovery, Enterprise and Atlantis, became
a museum piece after NASA ended its 30-year shuttle program in
July 2011. All four shuttles have been permanently retired from
service. Named for the first ship commanded by British explorer
James Cook, Endeavour rolled out of an assembly plant in
Palmdale, California, in 1991 at a cost of $1.7 billion. It was
the baby of the shuttle fleet, built as a replacement for
Challenger, which had exploded shortly after its 10th launch.
Over the next 20 years, Endeavour flew some of the highest-
profile shuttle missions, covering nearly 123 million miles in
25 flights. It flew a Spacelab mission and numerous
International Space Station assembly missions and rendezvoused
with Russia's Mir Space Station. The science museum is already
trumpeting the arrival of the shuttle, saying on its website
that it is building a new addition to its facility and plans to
begin displaying Endeavour on October 30.