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Go Inside The Jumbo Jet That Carries 172,000 Pound Space Shuttles

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Endevour

This week NASA's space shuttle Endeavour will leave Kennedy Space Center in Florida and be flown to its new permanent home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on the back of a specially modified Boeing 747, known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).

Since Endeavour is the final orbiter of NASA's fleet to be relocated and put on public display following the space shuttle program's end in 2011, this will also be the SCA's final flight.

National Geographic's Jon Brack shot incredible panoramic views of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft's cockpit and fuselage before it's put out of service forever.

Check out our slideshow version. Then go play with the 360 degree interactive versions at GigaPan.

NASA has two modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircrafts that it used to ferry space shuttle orbiters from landing sites back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.



The Boeing 747-100, or NASA 905, was the first SCA purchased by NASA in 1974. Before its role at NASA, the plane was a commercial jet owned by American Airlines.



Following retirement of the space shuttle program, NASA 905A has been busy transporting space shuttles to the cities of their final display sites.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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