The public has been invited to NASA Ames on Friday morning, Sept. 21, as space shuttle Endeavour is set to make a historic flight over Mountain View shortly after 9 a.m. The shuttle will be riding piggyback on a Boeing 747. The event, originally scheduled for Thursday, was postponed due to weather, NASA officials announced.
At 9 a.m. a countdown is set to begin for the low-level flyover that is expected to pass over NASA Ames Research Center and possibly parts of Mountain View.
Gates open at 6 a.m. There will be food trucks, information booths about the shuttle program and speeches at 8:30 a.m., including one from Ames director Pete Worden and a “special guest speaker.”
The event may be accessed through the Moffett Field main gate at the north end of Moffett Boulevard.
The event celebrates the accomplishments of the now defunct shuttle program, its 25 missions, 299 days in orbit and for going around the Earth “4,671 times while traveling 122,883,151 miles.”
Attendees are asked to bring hearing protection because of the low altitude of the flight — 1,500 feet — and to avoid potential traffic and parking issues by biking or walking in.
“The SCA and Endeavour will take off from Dryden and perform a low-level flyover of northern California, passing near NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and various landmarks in multiple cities, including San Francisco and Sacramento,” says a press release from NASA Ames.
“Some planned flyovers or stopovers could be delayed or canceled,” warns the NASA Ames Facebook page.
Updates on the event can be found here.
Note that car parking passes sold out 2 days ago. If you want to go and don’t already have a pass, plan on walking or bicycling to Moffett Field.
Stay home – probably see it on the idiot box.