Shuttle crossing provides a unique teaching moment
April Hernandez, right, and Joanne Boadi raise their hands to ask Hildreth "Hal" Walker Jr., a retired laser scientist, a question about the space shuttle Endeavour at an after-school center in Inglewood, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. When the space shuttle Endeavour makes its road trip to its retirement home through working-class communities in Los Angeles County, Walker Jr. wants the children he tutors to remember a few names: Ronald McNair. Mae Jemison. Charles Bolden. A retired laser scientist who had a role in the Apollo 11 mission, Walker is trying to use the shuttle's two-day terrestrial crawl through predominately African-American and Latino communities to highlight the role that minorities played in the shuttle program. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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April Hernandez, right, and Joanne Boadi raise their hands to ask Hildreth "Hal" Walker Jr., a retired laser scientist, a question about the space shuttle Endeavour at an after-school center in Inglewood, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. When the space shuttle Endeavour makes its road trip to its retirement home through working-class communities in Los Angeles County, Walker Jr. wants the children he tutors to remember a few names: Ronald McNair. Mae Jemison. Charles Bolden. A retired laser scientist who had a role in the Apollo 11 mission, Walker is trying to use the shuttle's two-day terrestrial crawl through predominately African-American and Latino communities to highlight the role that minorities played in the shuttle program. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
(AP)—When the space shuttle Endeavour hits the streets of Los Angeles, some schools along the 12-mile route are using the historic move as a teaching moment.
Retired laser scientist Hal Walker runs an after-school tutoring center and reminded his kids about the contributions of minorities in the shuttle program.
Luis Aquino, 11, holds a presentation board as Hildreth "Hal" Walker Jr., a retired laser scientist, teaches his students at an after-school center in Inglewood, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. When the space shuttle Endeavour makes its road trip to its retirement home through working-class communities in Los Angeles County, Walker Jr. wants the children he tutors to remember a few names: Ronald McNair. Mae Jemison. Charles Bolden. A retired laser scientist who had a role in the Apollo 11 mission, Walker is trying to use the shuttle's two-day terrestrial crawl through predominately African-American and Latino communities to highlight the role that minorities played in the shuttle program. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
× close
Luis Aquino, 11, holds a presentation board as Hildreth "Hal" Walker Jr., a retired laser scientist, teaches his students at an after-school center in Inglewood, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. When the space shuttle Endeavour makes its road trip to its retirement home through working-class communities in Los Angeles County, Walker Jr. wants the children he tutors to remember a few names: Ronald McNair. Mae Jemison. Charles Bolden. A retired laser scientist who had a role in the Apollo 11 mission, Walker is trying to use the shuttle's two-day terrestrial crawl through predominately African-American and Latino communities to highlight the role that minorities played in the shuttle program. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
After sitting at an airport hangar for the past three weeks, Endeavour is set to roll out before dawn Friday on a two-day journey to the California Science Center where it will be put on display.
Hildreth "Hal" Walker Jr., a retired laser scientist, holds a inflatable space shuttle Endeavour while teaching his students at an after-school center in Inglewood, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. When the space shuttle Endeavour makes its road trip to its retirement home through working-class communities in Los Angeles County, Walker Jr. wants the children he tutors to remember a few names: Ronald McNair. Mae Jemison. Charles Bolden. A retired laser scientist who had a role in the Apollo 11 mission, Walker is trying to use the shuttle's two-day terrestrial crawl through predominately African-American and Latino communities to highlight the role that minorities played in the shuttle program. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
× close
Hildreth "Hal" Walker Jr., a retired laser scientist, holds a inflatable space shuttle Endeavour while teaching his students at an after-school center in Inglewood, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. When the space shuttle Endeavour makes its road trip to its retirement home through working-class communities in Los Angeles County, Walker Jr. wants the children he tutors to remember a few names: Ronald McNair. Mae Jemison. Charles Bolden. A retired laser scientist who had a role in the Apollo 11 mission, Walker is trying to use the shuttle's two-day terrestrial crawl through predominately African-American and Latino communities to highlight the role that minorities played in the shuttle program. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A charter elementary school planned to take students on a field trip to see the shuttle, which will be temporarily stationed at a parking lot as crews re-route power lines ahead of the route.
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