Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- The space shuttle Endeavour 's journey of 123 million miles ended Sunday afternoon when it rolled into its final resting place at the California Science Center in Los Angeles , where it will go on public display later this month . It took more than two days for the shuttle to inch its way across the 12 miles from the Los Angeles International Airport to the science center , navigating around trees and light poles along the narrow path . Dozens of trees were cut down and traffic signs removed to make room for the Endeavour , but in other cases the shuttle 's self-propelled mobile transporter , capable of turning the shuttle 360 degrees , helped the big white bird to zigzag its way around the obstacles . Now , after 25 space missions in its 22-year career , Endeavour will be parked in a display pavilion built just for the shuttle . `` Mission 26 : Mission accomplished ! '' said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa . Endeavour draws festival of admirers as it inches home . He praised the more than 1,000 police officers and more than 200 firefighters who helped the shuttle maneuver through the city , and the hundreds of thousands who came out for the spectacle . Science center President Jeff Rudolph said everyone along the route was positive and encouraging . `` Mr. Mayor , I may get kicked for it , but it was the mother of all parades , '' he joked , but Villaraigosa agreed . The shuttle 's trek to the science center was initially expected to end Saturday night , but obstacles and a mechanical issue slowed it down , said Los Angeles Police Sgt . Rudy Lopez . As Endeavour neared the science center it had to travel down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard , lined with Canary Island pine trees dedicated to the late civil rights leader that officials did not want to cut down . As if to remind the world it was designed for precision , the shuttle moved so carefully past the trees that at certain points , the distance between the orbiter 's wing and the tree was the width of a credit card , said Shell Amega , spokeswoman for the California Science Center Foundation . Specialists were part of the convoy to make sure the Endeavour and its transporter platform , which together weigh more than 80 tons , did n't stress underground water and sewer systems . Crews laid 2,700 steel plates on parts of the route . Los Angeles Fire Chief Brian Cummings said the shuttle 's `` seamless '' procession allowed everyone to feel like an astronaut . Stunning shots of Endeavour 's final journey . Gwendolyn Crews , owner of a preschool , told CNN she was bringing her entire preschool to watch the Endeavour 's arrival at the museum . `` I think this is a history-making moment here in Los Angeles , California , and I want to be able to share this with my kids , my grandkids , my great-grandkids ... and the children of our school , '' Crews said . Villaraigosa called the shuttle 's trip through the city a once-in-a-lifetime event . Latasha Covington and her children , 9-year-old Skilyn and 4-year-old Amarie , brought a chair out Saturday to stand on to get a better view . `` I 've been here 32 years in L.A. and I 've never seen anything like this , so it 's part of history . I wanted them to see that , '' Covington said . The respect was a fitting tribute to the shuttle , which was delivered to Kennedy Space Center in May 1991 . Endeavour 's final journey , are you there ? NASA ended the shuttle program in July 2011 . Endeavour 's fellow shuttles Discovery , Enterprise and Atlantis are also now museum pieces . Named for the first ship commanded by British explorer James Cook , Endeavour cost $ 1.7 billion when it rolled out as a replacement for Challenger , which exploded shortly after its 10th launch . Over the next 20 years , Endeavour completed some of the highest-profile shuttle missions . It flew a Spacelab mission and numerous International Space Station assembly missions and rendezvoused with Russia 's Mir Space Station . The science museum has been trumpeting the arrival of the shuttle . The museum 's foundation raised more than $ 10 million to fund the transportation of the shuttle to the center , Amega said , and is halfway toward its goal of raising $ 200 million to support the exhibit that opens October 30 . The museum will display the shuttle horizontally in the pavilion while it builds a new addition to its facility , the Air and Space Center . When that center opens in five years , the shuttle will be on display in its vertical launch position . Read more space and science news on CNN 's Light Years blog . A short history of Endeavour . Space shuttle Endeavour 's final touchdown . CNN 's Melissa Gray and Josh Levs in Atlanta and Michael Martinez in Los Angeles contributed to this report .
NEW : Endeavour reaches its new home at the California Science Center . NEW : Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa declares `` mission accomplished '' Obstacles like light poles and trees delayed the shuttle 's trip through L.A. Endeavour will go on public display later this month .