Endeavour's 2-Day Drive Through LA in Less Than 3 Minutes

By Nancy Atkinson - October 17, 2012 at 8:30 PM UTC | Site News
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Here's a fantastic timelapse compilation of space shuttle Endeavour's big drive through the streets of Los Angeles. Photographer/cinematographer

Matthew Givot

and his team followed the shuttle during the 2-day 'endeavor' -- a drive that included photo-ops of the shuttle driving past several well-known L.A. landmarks. There were also some tight squeezes and 'back-up-and-start-over' turns and corners. Driving a space shuttle through a metropolis like LA is a little more complicated than initially thought, as the trip took 17 hours longer than originally planned. But it's obvious from the reactions of the crowds and the look on people's faces that Endeavour will be well-loved in her new home.

Mission 26 The Big Endeavour from Givot on Vimeo.

Below is another video of the move from NASA:

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If you want to see more of the move, Robert Pearlman from

collectSPACE.com has a gallery of over 150 images

of the drive, and

NASA's Flickr page

has a huge collection, too. Here's a great one from Robert:

Space shuttle Endeavour drives by the iconic Randy's Donuts in LA. Credit: Robert Pearlman,

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com