Endeavour stays the course, but hours behind schedule

Crowds flock to see the massive spacecraft as it gingerly makes its way across the urban landscape. Maneuvering around buildings, trees and utility poles takes longer than anticipated.

The shuttle Endeavour dodged plenty of space junk zipping around Earth.

The question Saturday, though, was would its wing avoid an apartment building on narrow Crenshaw Drive? Could it gingerly pivot around tall pines planted in honor of the Rev.Martin Luther King Jr.? Would the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles buckle under the weight of the 170,000-pound orbiter and its massive transport vehicle?

After months of meticulous planning, those were among the myriad challenges confronting hundreds of workers who escorted Endeavour on the last leg of its 12-mile journey to the California Science Center, where it will be displayed.