Mission Accomplished

Pali High Graduate Stephen Silberkraus Follows Endeavour Space Shuttle from Florida to its Final Destination at the Under-Construction Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Endeavour space shuttle made it to its final destination at California Science Center at the end of January, resting as the forthcoming star attraction at what will eventually be the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center—the beginning of its next chapter, but the end of its previous journey.

It is also the end of the journey for Palisades Charter High School graduate Stephen Silberkraus, who has followed Endeavour as a volunteer documentary videographer/photographer for the last decade-plus.

“I’m the only person—the only photographer/videographer—that has been with her since she returned to Kennedy [Space Center] after her last mission, all the way through her being installed at [California Science Center],” Silberkraus explained to the Palisadian-Post. “There have been people who pop in for pieces here and there, but I’ve been there for every step of the project.”

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Silberkraus’ father was an engineer on the third stage of the Saturn V, designed as part of the Apollo program for human exploration of the moon.

“I grew up around space and I’ve always loved it,” Silberkraus said. “I wanted to be an astronaut—what kid doesn’t have a phase where at some point, they want to be an astronaut? But I really did.”

Silberkraus began preparation for his future dream career at an early age, even attending space camp. But when he was at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, he grew to be six-foot, two-inches tall—too tall for a space shuttle, which had a height limit, he said.

“Very quickly, I was too tall to be an astronaut,” Silberkraus lamented, explaining that he went on to pursue other interests and dreams instead—including as a state assemblymember in Nevada and now pursuing a master’s in government through the extension school at Harvard—but that he always had a passion for space.

Around 2010, he met someone who was working with the team documenting the end of the space shuttle program Endeavour was a part of, planning its trip to California. Silberkraus, who had a background in photography, volunteered to help.

“There’s no money, it’s all volunteer,” he explained. “The Society of Camera Operators—which is kind of like the DGA or SAG but for camera operators—is volunteering a bunch of their equipment and time.”

So, on his own dime, Silberkraus began his journey alongside the Endeavour with a trip to Florida. He estimated that over the course of 12 years, he probably spent three months working on the project.

“You get to talk to these people who devoted their whole lives to this program and to this incredible machine,” Silberkraus said of the work. “And they’ve all got this fantastic story to tell you … my experience has really been living through the experiences of all these other incredible individuals.”

Silberkraus has been able to speak with over two dozen astronauts, talking about their experiences and stories—which he said allowed him to “almost get that astronaut experience” he has wanted since growing up.

“Anytime you’re playing with rockets and spaceships, it’s going to be fun and interesting,” Silberkraus said to the Post of Endeavour’s final move in January. “You kind of had a sense of, I almost want to say sorrow, because it was the end of something.”

The first leg of Silberkraus’ work with the Endeavour was in 2012 when it made a several-day journey to the West Coast from Florida, landing at LAX and then embarking on a tour through the streets of Los Angeles—sometimes with only inches of clearance—before arriving at California Science Center in a temporary home before being moved for the final time.

“That night was the last night she was ever going to fly, that she was ever going to be in the air and traveling,” Silberkraus said of Monday, January 29. “There was something kind of sad about that—beautiful as well—but knowing that this is finally her final.”

Endeavour, which will be part of a 20-story shuttle stack exhibit, marks the world’s only “ready-to-launch” shuttle display, with an external tank and two solid rocket boosters—the “grand finale of the unprecedented ‘Go for Stack’ process,” according to a statement from California Science Center. It was officially detached from the 450-foot crane and metal sling just after 12 a.m. on January 31 following 14 hours of work.

“It looks like this big tough thing, but it’s actually incredibly fragile,” Silberkraus said of how precise the crews had to be when working on moving Endeavour. “The tiles … look strong and tough and everything that you’d expect—and they are for what they are—but if you look at the back … if you took your finger, you could push right through it. It’s that fragile.”

Work at the science center began on Monday, January 29, around 9:30 p.m. The first night, Endeavour was lifted into the construction site, where it was captured at attach points on ET-94, the orange external tank. The next evening, the “flight hardware bolts were completely torqued,” firmly securing Endeavour in place at 9:15 p.m.

“With the lift and mating of Endeavour, we have successfully completed the last-ever space shuttle stack,” said Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of California Science Center. “This is a dream over 30 years in the making, and a feat that has never before been accomplished outside of a NASA or Air Force facility. The California Science Center has been fortunate to have a remarkable group of experts devoted to this project who have decades of experience working with NASA and the shuttle program—some from the very first space shuttle launch in 1981.”

Endeavour is 122 feet long, with a wingspan of 78 feet. A retired orbiter from NASA’s Space Shuttle program, it flew 25 missions between May 1992 and May 2011 before arriving at the science center in October 2012.

“The final preparations to move the orbiter to its new home began immediately after Endeavour’s exhibition closed to the public on December 31, 2023,” according to California Science Center. “On the morning of January 2, crews began to carefully envelope Endeavour in shrink wrap to protect it during its journey, installation and for the duration of construction. Endeavour moved out of its previous and temporary home, the Samuel Oschin Pavilion at the California Science Center, on January 18 and made the 1,000-foot journey down State Drive to the site of the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on January 26.”

Construction of Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center began in 2022 and will now continue around the 20-story shuttle display. When completed in “a few years,” the 200,000-square-foot expansion of California Science Center will serve as “a launchpad for creativity and innovation to inspire future generations of scientists, engineers and explorers.” It will feature a collection of 100 artifacts as well as 100 new hands-on exhibits.

Even though Endeavour’s traveling journey has come to an end, Silberkraus will continue to volunteer his time and efforts with other shuttles, recently attending the launch of Artemis 1 with his family and returning by himself for its recovery. He said he plans to be there for Artemis II, which will likely launch at the beginning of 2025, and Artemis III, which will land on the moon.

His work documenting the Endeavour is also available in a book by Arcadia Publishing—the first book they published in color, Silberkraus explained.

And, in his spare time, Silberkraus helps to inspire the next generation of astronauts—hoping to spark that same interest in space that he had growing up.

“This last week, I went and spoke to three different classes—a second-grade and two fifth-grade classes—and just got to share some of these stories and these experiences with them,” Silberkraus said. “And you could see them light up. And you know, that’s that spirit of adventure and interest and intrigue and what’s out there. It’s alive and strong with these kids.”