Heads up everyone, and I do mean to actually put your heads up and point your eyes to the sky. A chance of a lifetime opportunity is flying your way tomorrow, literally!
On Friday, September 21,2012, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to make the final leg of its journey to Southern California on the back of a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and will be flying over the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The piggybacked team will be making several special low altitude flyovers above California on Friday. At least one source reports a flight plan that shows it will circle our Capitol in Sacramento, head through the Bay Area, circling over the Golden Gate bridge and then down the peninsula over the Exploratorium, the Lawrence Hall of Science, Bay Area Discovery Museum, Chabot Space and Science Center Moffett Field and then head over the Monterey Bay Aquarium en route to its final desination in Los Angeles.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium posted this on their Facebook page yesterday: “The Space Shuttle Endeavour will fly over the Aquarium Friday between 8:30 and 9:30 am on its final trip to a permanent home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. NASA specifically identified the Aquarium as one of several science centers and major landmarks on its route! Learn more:
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/09/18/shuttle-endeavours-tour-of-california-delayed-until-friday/”
Details on the exact times are not easy to find, and are conflicting in many cases. It could change at any time, so just be prepared.
The most common time across the board indicates that it should be flying over the SF Bay area anytime around 8:30 am. If people are traveling to Moffett Field to watch, officials are recommending that spectators arrive before 6:00 a.m. for parking and are sending a reminder that this is occurring during commute traffic hours. If you are going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I would just say to arrive early and be prepared to wait.
It will be interesting to see where it flies over in the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay areas. You never know, it could even fly over your house, school or place of work.
Stay tuned to local sources for any changes and/or optimal viewing points as information is still coming out. I will post anything new I find out in comments here, and of course you are welcome to do the same. It is well worth the wait, as this is the chance of a lifetime. I wouldn’t want to miss this for almost anything in the world or beyond.
Weather reports do show cloudy skies early in Monterey, and partly cloudy skies in Mountain View, but we all know how hard weather is hard to pin down and hopefully any clouds will be high enough not to be a factor.
Bring a camera, binoculars and coffee and you will be set. See you there!
