Step underneath a space shuttle at the California Science Center
The Space Shuttle Endeavour, which was very publicly paraded through Los Angeles to go to its temporary home at the Samuel Oschin Pavilion—a permanent building slated to exhibit the ship upright is in the works—is the main draw at this family-friendly museum. Even though Endeavour and the rest of the museum are free to see, reservations are required and cost $3. If you choose to pick up your ticket at the box office, you can save the cost, but there is a chance that you won't get a reservation, particularly on weekends.
The California Science Center, a merger of two long-running previous facilities, debuted in 1998 in a light, airy structure immediately in front of the Rose Garden in Exposition Park. Endeavour, the museum's most recent acquisition, is without a doubt the star here. The last space shuttle to be built, Endeavour instills a reach-for-the-stars spirit unlike any other exhibit in the city. The Endeavour spacecraft was manufactured in Palmdale, California, and traveled about 123 million miles before finding its final resting place in the museum. This gives the story an uniquely local flavor. Other permanent exhibit galleries in the museum—World of Biological, Creative World, and the SKETCH Foundation Gallery with air and space exhibits—explore life sciences, human ingenuity, and powered flight, though with a very '90s flair. By taking a practical look at Earth's biomes, from the poles to life in our own backyard, the Ecosystems wing tackles science. Children almost solely like the various interactive exhibits; otherwise, childless adults may find the majority of the museum to be overly crowded, disorganized, and, well, dull.
Other highlights of the exhibit include Tess, the 50-foot body simulator and star of the Body Works show, the Kelp Tank, which is home to 1,500 live fish, kelp, and other marine life, the High-Wire Bicycle, which is always a hit and lets daredevils ride a bike along a one-inch wire 43 feet above the ground to demonstrate the force of gravity, and actual space capsules from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo-Soyuz missions. Temporary displays and an IMAX theater that regularly shows stunning, ostensibly informative, nature-themed movies offer additional amusement.
