Shuttle Carrier Aircraft - Ferry Flights

Ferry Flights

Ferry flights generally originated at Edwards Air Force Base in California or on rare occasions White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico following missions which landed there, especially in the early days of the Space Shuttle program or when weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center prevented ending missions there. Flights generally ended at the SLF. A number of flights began at the Dryden Flight Research Center following delivery of the orbiter from Rockwell International to NASA from the nearby facilities in Palmdale, California.

The last ferry flight with Endeavour started on September 19, 2012 with flight from Kennedy Space Center to Ellington Field. The second leg on September 20, 2012 Ellington Field to Edwards Air Force Base. The third and final leg was flown on September 21, 2012 when it departed Edwards Air Force Base and headed north along the California central valley, conducted a circuit over Sacramento, and then proceeded to the San Francisco Bay Area. In the Bay Area, the flight proceeded along the east side of the bay, passing over Oakland, Berkeley, El Cerrito, and Richmond before crossing the bay and conducting two loops over San Francisco, passing over the Golden Gate Bridge each time. The flight then proceeded south along the west side of the bay, conducting a low fly-over at NASA Ames Research Center/Moffett Air Field before turning south, along the way making a pass over Vandenberg Air Force Base, which was once slated to be a launch site for the Space Shuttle program. As it approached the Los Angeles area, the SCA/Endeavour conducted flyovers of various landmarks in the greater LA region, including the Hollywood Sign and the Griffith Observatory. As it approached from the south along the Pacific coast, it also passed over several communities, provided sighting opportunities for thousands of spectators.