As anticipation grows over the arrival of the space shuttle Endeavor in Los Angeles tomorrow, students should know that an EC alumnus was a member of its final space mission, Joe Holliday, earth sciences professor, said.
Holliday said U.S. Air Force Col. Michael Fincke was the mission specialist on Endeavours’ final 16-day space flight. He also completed two tours on the international space station.
“That’s amazing that he spent almost a year of his life out in space,” Holliday said.
He added that he has a picture of Fincke in the space station wearing a sweatshirt with El Camino printed across the front.
Finke was one of only two students majoring in geology when he attended EC in 1993 and although Holliday didn’t have him in any of his classes they have spent time together over the years, he said.
“He’s a really nice guy, not egotistic like Buzz Aldrin,” Holliday said.
He said that Fincke was a good example of the interesting career paths that many EC geology alumni pursue.
Holliday added that he was excited about having Endeavour here in Los Angeles.
“I’m hoping this is going to be a great opportunity to organize trips to the Science Center for the Science Club as well as my geology students,” Holliday said.
The arrival of Endeavour has peaked the interest of at least one student.
Lee Takeuchi, 19, astrophysics major, said he is a member of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Club and sees this as a chance to learn more about space travel.
“I’ll probably take the opportunity to go see Endeavour,” Takeuchi said. “Not only to learn about it, but the replacements being built by companies like SpaceX.”
After completing a tour across the country mounted on a specially-built Boeing 747, the space shuttle will be landing at Los Angeles International Airport tomorrow, ushering in the end of the space shuttle program, according to NASA
According to the NASA website, the plane carrying the shuttle will make low-level flyovers of areas in Northern California, including Sacramento and San Francisco before landing in Los Angeles.
Endeavour will remain at LAX for several weeks while it is being prepared for a 12-mile crawl through the streets of Ingelwood and Los Angeles to the California Science Center where it is scheduled to arrive Oct. 13 and will be put on exhibit Oct. 30, according to the science center’s website.
According to the science center Website. Endeavour was the newest of NASA’s space shuttle fleet and flew 25 missions from 1992 until 2011. It spent about 300 days in orbit and traveled over 1.2 million miles in space during its mission lifetime.
