A construction milestone was reached on Thursday, Oct. 10 at the California Science Center, as the highest beams were raised into place on a future exhibit hall that will house the upright, launch-ready display of the space shuttle Endeavour. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday morning, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. “Today we take a substantial step toward realizing the vision for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which will be a launch pad for creativity and innovation and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers,” California Science Center President/CEO Jeffrey Rudolph said during the event. Workers guide the last beam into place on top of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Workers guide the last beam into place on top of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Workers guide the last beam into place on top of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Lynda Oschin, wife of the late Samuel Oschin, holds up a sign to put the last steel girder in place for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Los Angeles City council member Curren Price speaks at the topping out ceremony for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Tyler Eaqueda, Journeyman Iron Worker, holds the girder in place as Howard Wang adds his name to the last beam to be put in place for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Lynda Oschin, wife of the late Samuel Oschin, adds her name to the last beam to be put in place for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Peter Landecker adds his name to the last beam to be put in place for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) A visitor watches at the last beam goes on Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 9Workers guide the last beam into place on top of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Construction crews and Science Center officials took part in a “topping-out” ceremony Thursday, marking a major step toward completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center. The 200-foot-tall free-standing structure houses the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is scheduled to open to the public in three years. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Expand The final beams raised into place were signed by members of the construction team, CSC officials and others involved in the ambitious project that will dramatically expand the size of the Science Center. The $400 million, 200,000-square-foot Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will nearly double the Science Center’s educational exhibition space. The building will include three multi-level galleries, themed for air, space and shuttle. The new facility will also house an events and exhibit center that will be home to large-scale rotating exhibitions. The highlight of the center will be the Endeavour, which will be on display in a one-of-a-kind launch-ready vertical display. The 122-foot-long shuttle was lowered into position in the display earlier this year, joining with a pair of solid rocket boosters and a 65,000-pound external fuel tank known as ET-94. The display is more than 20 stories tall, and will be completely enclosed in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. The Endeavour had been on display horizontally at the Science Center for more than a decade. In addition to the new center’s shuttle gallery, the building will also include the Kent Kresa Space Gallery and the Korean Air Aviation Gallery. The Korean Air Aviation Gallery will include a collection of about 20 aircraft, some displayed on the ground and others suspended in the air. Among the aircraft on display will be a replica of the Wright Brothers’ 1902 Glider; a Harrier T4 jump-jet; a historic F-100 Super Saber; and the forward 50 feet of a Korean Air-operated Boeing 747 commercial airliner fuselage. The Kent Kresa Space Gallery will examine how the machines built to explore space extend our reach and help transform our ideas about the universe and Earth. The gallery’s three prominent thematic areas will include Lift Off, Robotic Spacecraft and Telescopes, and Humans in Space. It will showcase examples of spacecraft from every stage of the space program, including flown space capsules Mercury MR2, Gemini 11, and Apollo-Soyuz Command Module; and an array of engineering models of planetary probes, telescopes and Earth observation spacecraft. An opening date for the center has not been announced.