The space shuttle Endeavour has begun its final flight heading not into orbit, but west to a Los Angeles museum.

Riding piggyback on top of a specially modified Boeing 747, Endeavour is the second of Nasa's three surviving shuttles to leave the Kennedy Space Center and begin new roles as space ambassadors.

Endeavour was built as a replacement for Challenger, which was destroyed in an accident that killed seven astronauts in 1986.

Nasa lost a second shuttle, Columbia, and seven more crew members in 2003. That ship was not replaced.

Endeavour's lifespan was relatively short by shuttle standards - 25 missions over 20 years, totaling 299 days in space.