The California Science Center opens the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center to the public on Friday housing the Space Shuttle Endeavour in a vertical launch position. The 200,000-square-foot Los Angeles expansion features authentic flight hardware, interactive galleries, and historical aircraft.
The California Science Center in Los Angeles opens its new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center to the public on November 13, 2026. The expansion nearly doubles the institution’s exhibition space with a 200,000-square-foot facility. The centerpiece of the new wing is the Space Shuttle Endeavour, displayed in a vertical, 20-story launch configuration that includes two solid rocket boosters and an external fuel tank.
California Governor Gavin Newsom attended a preview event on October 28, 2026, to view the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center and its exhibits. The museum complex brings together educational stations, artifacts, and hands-on attractions designed to engage visitors of all ages, with a focus on inspiring children. The project has been years in the making following Endeavour’s slow-roll transport from LAX to Exposition Park in 2012.
“Endeavour exemplifies so many of the passions of my husband, especially astronomy, math, science, exploration and helping children to achieve their dreams,” Oschin said at the Oct. 28 event.
“The opening of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is the fulfillment of a decades-long dream to create one of the world's leading science centers,” Rudolph said at an Oct. 28 preview event.
Evidence Design, led by partners Jack Pascarosa, AIA, and Shari Berman, provided master planning, exhibit design, and building integration services for the spaces. Working closely with the California Science Center and project architect ZGF, the design team shaped the visitor experience around the vertical display of the spacecraft. The galleries feature bilingual exhibit graphics, glowing starfields, and technical diagrams to interpret the collections.
Fine Artist Shapes The Shuttle Stack
“We tried taking impressions off of the real foam and making molds and casting, but that didn’t really work. I then suggested we put in a dense urethane, like plain urethane foam, and I hand sculpt the top of it to match what was around it. That ended up becoming the best solution for fixing the acreage foam that had an orange peel-like texture,” said Natalie Rosen, a fine artist who shaped foam components for the exhibit. Working with the external tank, Rosen developed new sculpting processes.
Visitors Explore Inside The New Center
“You can take the elevator all the way to the top,” said Kenneth Phillips, Curator for Aerospace Science. “Look at where the crew went in, and then even take it higher to a glass platform that looks down above the nose of the orbiter.” Visitors can ride tubular metal slides descending 45 feet from the upper floor, and explore the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
The new galleries house about 100 artifacts and 100 hands-on exhibits across three multi-level spaces. These are the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery, and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
Visitors can explore wind tunnels, inspect a mini theater inside a portion of a solid rocket booster, and take an immersive virtual tour of the International Space Station. The Korean Air Aviation Gallery features an immersive theater inside a real Korean Air fuselage known as the 747 Experience.
The visitor journey begins in an introductory theater showing a short film produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, featuring footage of Endeavour’s final launch. Smoke fills the theater, the screen lifts, and the shuttle is revealed in launch position.
Guests can walk across a glass floor to peer down at the spacecraft’s nose or ride two 115-foot-long metal shuttle descent slides. Former astronaut Garrett Reisman flew aboard Endeavour on missions that launched satellites. He also serviced the Hubble Space Telescope and visited the International Space Station. Reisman said that Endeavour was his first and favorite shuttle.
To celebrate the grand opening weekend from November 13 through November 15, 2026, the California Science Center is hosting free astronaut and aerospace-related talks every half hour through 5 p.m. in the Donald P. Loker Conference Center and the Celestial Ballroom.
Speakers include astronauts and experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. The Science Center IMAX Theater is screening space-themed films including The Dream Is Alive, Journey to Space 3D, Hubble 3D, and A Beautiful Planet 3D.
Visit the California Science Center with Timed Reservations
General admission to the California Science Center is free. Timed reservations are required for entry to the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center due to anticipated demand.
A $4 service fee applies for online and phone bookings, but is waived for members and same-day in-person reservations. The facility operates daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 700 Exposition Park Drive in Los Angeles, remaining closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.