When he first found out the space
shuttle Endeavour would be driven through Los Angeles, John Olson decided it
would be the perfect chance to break out his favorite camera and get the
perfect shot.
What the
64-year-old self-described "space kid" didn't account for was the
massive crowd that would accompany him.
"I drove out
to LAX and then tried to follow its path," Olson said, adding that he soon
ran into a barricade of police and spectators. He eventually found a spot near
the 405 Freeway and began setting up his gear.
Olson unloaded
his camera of choice for the last 37 years -- a 1912 Fulmer & Schwing black
and white view camera -- and set up for his dream shot: a picture of the
shuttle passing the massive doughnut atop Randy's Donuts.
"That thing
flew to outer space!" Olson said. "And now it's running around the
streets of L.A."
Although in awe
of the shuttle's size, Olson said the Endeavour isn't the most impressive thing
he's seen. That distinction, he said, belongs to the five shuttle landings he's
watched in person.
His blue and
white cap boasted of his attendance at the April 1981 landing of the Columbia
at Edwards Air Force Base. Another souvenir from that landing -- a NASA
flipbook depicting a shuttle landing -- was Olson's way of entertaining those
who crowded around his vintage camera.
Among them was
70-year-old Lynne Sherman, a retired Los Angeles Unified School District
history teacher who said she was overwhelmed. Seeing the shuttle reminded her
of a trip to Edwards in the 1980s to watch a shuttle landing, an experience she
said spurred an interest in space.
"To see this
thing coming down the street, I hope it shows the kids the importance of
science so we can keep soaring to new worlds," she said.
Dressed in
complete NASA gear -- helmet included -- 7-year-old Anakin Pittelli said he's
eager to start soaring.
"I want to
invent the rover that can go to Saturn," Pittelli said, adding
unequivocally that he plans to be an astronaut. His outfit, which served as
last year's Halloween costume, made Anikan probably the most fittingly dressed
spectator for the shuttle's cruise through Inglewood.
Despite his Star
Wars namesake, his parents say Anikan would rather dream of cruising this
galaxy, and couldn't care less about the fictional ones.
"We watched
it fly over Venice Beach and then rushed over to LAX to watch it land,"
said Jill Pittelli, Anakin's mother. With helmet off for a better view, the
aspiring astronaut had three simple words as the shuttle rolled by.
"This is
awesome."
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