POSTED BY SI
Friday morning we just had time to see a spaceship then eat one of the finest burgers on the planet before we dropped our tank back and flew out of LA to end our trip.
When the
shuttle programme was (criminally; shortsightedly; tragically) decommissioned a
few years ago, the four remaining shuttles were dispatched to museums for their
final resting places. Endeavour now resides at The California Science Centre in
LA.
She flew 25
NASA missions, spending 299 days in space and covering 122,883,151 miles, most
of which in orbit at around 17,500 mph. She is quite something to be in the presence of.
Endeavour’s heat
shield, or “Thermal Protection System”, contained over 30,000 tiles constructed
essentially of sand, to protect it against the fierce heat of friction upon atmospheric re-entry. Each one was a different shape and thickness, according to
where on the structure they were and the level of heat they needed to take. They were bonded
to a flexible structure attached to the outer skin, with gaps between them to
allow expansion.
I had
thought the upper body would be smooth, like the Saturn rockets, but the whole
thing is a mosaic of tiles. Even the payload bay doors.
Each of the RS-25 engines produced around 500,000 lbs of thrust, equivalent to about 12 million horse power. Powered by liquid oxygen and hydrogen, which it burned at a rate that would empty an average sized family swimming pool in minute. Its exhaust was pure water. There were nine engines ready for each launch. Three for the shuttle, three in case a second shuttle was needed for a rescue mission, and three spares.
One of mankind's finest accomplishments.
Speaking of which, we needed lunch.
I don't know why, but you cannot get a decent burger in England. I've heard tell that UK law means we're not allowed to sell rare burgers (mince; not a complete cut of meat) because of mad cow disease. I don't know if that's true, but anyway. England does rubbish burgers. So no trip to the states is complete without a decent one.
Mary Ann & Blair recommended Umami burger.
They were quite correct to do so.
A fine way to bid farewell to the city of angels.
