The space shuttle Endeavour has flown over Hollywood before touching down for the last time after a stellar career spanning 20 years.

Piggybacking on the back of a jumbo jet she was greeted by cheering crowds en route to its retirement home at a Southern California science museum.

The 75-ton winged spaceship, ferried by a modified Boeing 747, landed at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before 1 p.m. after hop-scotching across the country from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and flying a victory lap over California.

Tens of thousands of people jammed into LA's Griffith Park and Observatory and the surrounding area in the Hollywood Hills to catch a glimpse of Endeavour. People dotted each hilltop in the park armed with photo and video cameras to capture the flight.

In downtown Los Angeles, office workers waited on rooftops for a glimpse of the space shuttle as it made the rounds around the city.

In Santa Monica, beachgoers were treated to the sight of the shuttle and its escort looping over the ocean and past the iconic Santa Monica pier.

Endeavour flew 25 missions and logged nearly 123 million miles (198 million km) in flight during 4,671 orbits.