Space shuttle set to land at Edwards Air Force base
Endeavour is rerouted to Southern California due to bad weather at Florida's Cape Canaveral. The shuttle is set to land at 1:25 p.m. today with sound effects -- two sonic booms.
The space shuttle Endeavour, originally scheduled to land at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was rerouted to Southern California today because of stormy weather at Cape Canaveral.
The shuttle is expected to touch down at Edwards Air Force base in rural Los Angeles County at 1:25 p.m., producing two sonic booms as it approaches its destination.
NASA officials said high winds and possible thunderstorms at Cape Canaveral prompted the route change for the shuttle, whose seven-person crew had been servicing the International Space Station for the last two weeks in preparation for larger crews on longer missions.
"The advantage of Edwards is, of course, that the weather is almost always favorable there, plus they have an infinite amount of room," said NASA spokesman George Diller.
Diller said the pair of sonic booms will arrive a few minutes before the landing and will sound like two sharp claps of thunder. "If you're at Edwards, you'll definitely hear it," he said. "You'll probably hear it in L.A., but it won't be with the same intensity."
Diller said the Edwards base was fully prepared to handle the landing. The only drawback to the new route, he added, would be the week of time lost as officials prepare the shuttle for its return trip to Florida atop a 747 jetliner.
Edwards Air Force Base is not open to the public, but there will be a public viewing site at the north end of the base off Highway 58. It will open an hour before landing.
Training aircraft similar to the shuttle conducted practice landing runs at Edwards months before Endeavour began its mission Nov. 14, said NASA representative Leslie Williams.
Knoll is a Times staff writer
corina.knoll@latimes.com
