LOS ANGELES -- Space shuttle Endeavour has taken off on an aerial tour of California.
Riding piggyback atop a modified 747 jumbo jet, the shuttle departed Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert on Friday morning. The pair overnighted at the base 100 miles (160 kilometres) north of Los Angeles after a cross-country flight.
Endeavour will circle the high desert before flying north to Sacramento, where it will make a low pass over the state capitol. Then it will head to the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles basin, buzzing by landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge before landing at the Los Angeles International Airport.
The flyovers will last nearly five hours. Throngs of spectators are expected to watch Endeavour in the air before it retires to a Los Angeles museum.
