Shuttle Final Flyover Skips Rocket Engine Facility

LAist had a post of about how the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavor skipped the San Fernando Valley.  The Valley has always  been a major location for aerospace development.

In particular, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park is the facility that manufactured the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs).  In a press release, Pratt and Whitney said, "But with the program officially over, we are looking to an uncertain legacy and future. It’s critical – now more than ever – for NASA to define its plan for returning humans to space. The nation cannot afford to lose its industrial base, leadership in space, and the knowledge it’s built over the last 50 years. Once that knowledge is gone, it’s gone forever.”