The DEI Mockup Story

North American Rockwell designed and built a full scale mockup of their Shuttle Orbiter design as part of their proposal to NASA in 1972.

It became a valuable engineering and manufacturing design tool and would later become an icon for the Downey Site.

The Mockup was on display in the Building 001 DEI Room from 1973 to 2004. It was then relocated to the North section of Building 001 until 2008. It was moved again in 2010 to the West side of Buiding 290 for one year. It is now located in the City of Downey Public Works Lot on Bellflower Blvd where it has been since 2012.

A large Aerospace themed mural was painted on the North Wall of the DEI Room depicted here. It was destroyed when the room was demolished for a Film Production by a Hollywood Studio. 

The Mockup was donated to the City of Downey when Boeing vacated the site in 2000. It was then named " Inspiration"