On September 20, 2012, Endeavour landed at LAX on top of a Boeing 747. From there the trip was a bit slower.
It was a turtle-like pace for the entire trip because crews had to navigate Endeavour around trees, houses, street lights, and other obstacles along the route.
In fact, the 85-ton NASA orbiter arrived at the California Science Center about 16 hours late because of unforeseen mechanical and situational problems. The trip began late Thursday October 11th/early Friday, October 12th, and ended Sunday, October 14th.
Endeavour, on Mission 26 (because it had previously gone on 25 missions into space) went through wide boulevards, including Manchester, Crenshaw, and Martin Luther King Jr. It also maneuvered through several narrow streets, narrowly missing a tree in one instance, as shown on the video.
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On this street, the wings of Endeavour came within inches of the trees. The crew at times had to trim these trees to get through. At other spots the massive spacecraft had to be raised and/or lowered, moved sideways, and forced into intricate motions to get it through the LA-based obstacle course.
In some cases, power lines had to be cut to provide enough height for it to get through. Residents were without power for hours in some cases when this happened.
Watch the 2:43-minute time-lapse video of the trip that lasted about 3 days. See it at the Los Angeles Times article "Time-lapse Video: Space Shuttle Endeavour's Crosstown Journey Through L.A."
The same video is provided for you, above, from YouTube. It is entitled " Time-lapse video: Space shuttle Endeavour's trek across L.A." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6m-5mBcuGQ).
Its caption states, "The space shuttle Endeavour made its final journey last weekend, traveling 12-miles from Los Angeles International Airport, through Inglewood, to the California Science Center in Exposition Park. The retired orbiter was carried through city streets atop a special transporter. Throngs of people lined the route as it shimmied around trees, utility poles and other obstacles."
And, "It had arrived in Los Angeles on a Boeing 747 on Sept. 20 and kept in LAX's United Airlines hangar as it was prepared for the crosstown trip. "Mission 26″ as it was dubbed because of the spacecraft's 25 flight missions for NASA started just before midnight Thursday and finished Sunday afternoon, more than 16 hours late."
Further, "Its final journey was slowed by unexpected maintenance issues and last-minute maneuvers to avoid obstacles like trees and utility poles. The 85-ton orbiter survived the trip with nary a scratch."
