Boeing 747 carrying a NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour Landing at LAX

NASA’s first Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905, was acquired from American Airlines in 1974 and flew several aeronautic research projects at NASA Dryden before being modified by Boeing for the shuttle carrier role in 1976. It carried the shuttle prototype Enterprise, which was not designed for actual spaceflight. On the Approach and Landing Tests at Edwards in 1977 and also flew the majority of the shuttle ferry flights, including the final “Tour of California” ferry flight of the retired shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles in September 2012. Endeavour is now on public display in the Samuel Oschin Pavilion at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Shuttle Carrier N905NA was the largest aircraft carrier, used to ferry the retired Shuttles to their respective museums. It returned to the Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California after a short flight planespotting from Los Angeles International Airport on September 24, 2012. It was intended to join N911NA as a source of spare parts for NASA's SOFIA aircraft.