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Houston, we have a space shuttle! Endeavour lands in Texas on the back of a 747 on stopover before final mission takes it to California

Endeavour was built as a replacement for Challenger, which exploded shortly after takeoff in 1986
Modified jumbo jet will land in Houston for the night, before setting out tomorrow for California, where it will ultimately become a museum exhibit

By REUTERS REPORTER and DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Riding piggyback atop a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, the space shuttle Endeavour left its Florida home port for the last time on Wednesday and headed to California to begin a new mission as a museum exhibit.

The shuttle landed at Ellington Field in Houston for the night before it will continue the cross-country trek on Thursday.

After waiting two days for weather to clear, the specially modified carrier jet sped down the Kennedy Space Center runway shortly after dawn on Wednesday, the first leg of a planned three-day trek to the West Coast.

'There's sadness to see it go, but the space shuttle program had to end for us to move on to the next thing,' said astronaut Greg Chamitoff.

Hero's welcome: Space Shuttle Endeavour flies over Ellington Field in Houston just before landing on Wednesday

Going west: Space shuttle Endeavour, bolted atop a modified jumbo jet, makes its departure from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida

Taking flight: Space Shuttle Endeavour makes its departure atop a modified jumbo jet from the Kennedy Space Center

Hello Houston: The space shuttle Endeavour atop its carrier craft flies over the Texas city

Hello, Texas: The shuttle flies above Hobby Airport in Houston shortly before landing at Ellington Field

Photo op: Spectators take pictures of Endeavour shortly after landing at Ellington Airport

NASA retired its three-ship fleet last year after completing the U.S. portion of the $100billion International Space Station, a permanently staffed research complex that is owned by 15 nations and flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.

The agency is developing a spaceship and rocket that can fly astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually Mars. The first flight with a crew, however, is not expected until 2021.

Russia now flies NASA astronauts to the space station, at a cost of more than $65million a seat. NASA hopes to buy rides from commercial companies beginning in 2017.

Endeavour was built as a replacement for Challenger, the shuttle lost in a 1986 launch accident that killed seven astronauts. It went on to fly 25 missions, including 12 to build and outfit the space station.

Wheels down: The 747 carrying Shuttle Endeavour lands at Ellington Field near a Texas Air National Guard aircraft

Runway traffic: Endeavour took off on Wednesday after twice being delayed due to bad weather between Florida and Texas

Retired: Endeavour, seen piggybacking on a modified 747 on Wednesday, was built as a replacement for Challenger, which exploded shortly after takeoff in 1986

Making stops: Endeavour will land tonight in Houston, where it will be held before continuing its journey tomorrow morning

It flew the first assembly mission, carrying up the Unity connecting node, which was attached to the Russian Zarya base module.

'It's hard to believe it was 14 years ago,' said Kennedy Space Center director Bob Cabana, a former astronaut who commanded NASA's first station assembly flight in 1998.

Endeavour is the second of NASA's three surviving shuttles to be sent to a museum. Discovery, NASA's oldest surviving shuttle, is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre outside Washington.

Atlantis, which flew NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission in July 2011, will be towed down the road to the Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex in November.

Picturesque: Skywatchers in Florida catch a glimpse of Endeavour as it passed over Florida, left, while the shuttle can be seen high above the city of Houston later on Wednesday, right

Takeoff: Endeavour was one of three shuttles that was retired last year. The others are Discovery and Atlantis

Space veteran: Endeavour went on to fly 25 missions after it was built, including 12 to build and outfit the space station

Heading for retirement: Endeavour is the second of NASA's three surviving shuttles to be sent to a museum after the programme ended in 2011

Enterprise, NASA's original prototype for the shuttle design, was flown to New York on the back of the carrier jet, and now sits atop the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

NASA lost a fourth shuttle, Columbia, in another fatal accident in 2003. That shuttle was not replaced.

Tourist attraction: Observers watch from the Chase Tower as Endeavour makes a pass over Houston

Flying buddy: Endeavour is escorted by a fighter jet as it streaks across the sky above Houston

Monumental: The shuttle lies over the San Jacinto Monument in Houston on its way to Ellington Field

HEADING WEST

Endeavour's cross-country piggyback flight had been due to begin on Monday, but a cold front moving over Texas and into the Gulf of Mexico delayed its departure for two days.

As the sun rose over the oceanside spaceport in Florida, the shuttle carrier jet took off through partly cloudy, pink-tinged skies and headed south for a farewell pass over the neighbouring beachside communities.

The duo circled back around to the Kennedy Space Center to give workers and guests gathered at the runway a final glimpse of a shuttle in the sky.

Don't mess with Texas: Endeavour will have a layover in the Lone Star State before taking off again on Thursday for California

Rising: As the sun rose over the oceanside spaceport in Florida, the shuttle carrier jet took off through partly cloudy, pink-tinged skies and headed south for a farewell pass over the neighbouring beachside communities

Taxiing: This NASA photo shows Space shuttle Endeavour atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center

At midday on Wednesday, the 747 landed at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in Houston for the night.

Endeavour is due to depart Houston at dawn on Thursday, refuel at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas, and head to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where it will land for the night.

On Friday Endeavour will be flown to northern California to pass by NASA's Ames Research Centre at Moffett Field and landmarks in and around San Francisco, Sacramento and other cities.

The final leg of the journey will take Endeavour on a tour over Los Angeles before the 747 jet touches down at Los Angeles International Airport around 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT/1800 GMT).

View: Endeavour is pictured shortly after taking off in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on the last piggyback flight of NASA's remaining shuttles

Final mission: The shuttle will go on display at the California Science Center in an exhibit which is scheduled to open on October 30

Magnificent sight: Low flyovers past NASA centres in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas are planned, weather permitting, before the 747 lands at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Centre in Houston for the night

The shuttle will be taken off the carrier jet and moved to a United Airlines hangar to be prepared for transport next month to the California Science Centre, about 12 miles (19 km) from the airport.

The trip to the museum, which will take place along Los Angeles neighbourhood roads, requires some 400 trees to be cut down and the temporary removal of hundreds of utility poles, street lights and traffic signals to accommodate the 175,000-pound (79,379-kg) winged spaceship.

The California Science Centre plans to plant 1,000 new trees to replace those taken down for Endeavour's road trip. The shuttle is due to go on display on October 30.