Space shuttle makes pit stop in Texas

747 jet brings Endeavour in for layover during $1.8 million trip to Florida

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Endeavour makes pit stop
Dec. 10: Perched atop a modified Boeing 747 jet, the space shuttle Endeavour makes a stop in Texas en route to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 5:23 p.m. ET Dec. 10, 2008

BIGGS ARMY AIRFIELD, Texas - The space shuttle Endeavour is making a pit stop in Texas on its way home to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A jumbo jet with the shuttle riding piggyback left Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Wednesday morning.

The aircraft-shuttle combination touched down at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso for refueling, then continued on to the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth for its overnight stopover.

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Depending on weather, the shuttle will arrive at Kennedy Space Center in Florida either Thursday or Friday.

Endeavour was supposed to leave California on Sunday, but a technical delay and bad weather postponed the trip.

The shuttle landed in California on Nov. 30 because storms hit the main Florida landing site. The cross-country ferry costs more than $1.8 million.

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