Milestone Systems, an open platform company in IP video management software (VMS), provided the technology for live monitoring with archived recordings when the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) needed to supervise every moment during the space shuttle Endeavour’s recent weekend-long journey from the Los Angeles International Airport to its final home at the California Science Center.

Traveling to its final destination, the space shuttle Endeavour was slowly paraded through major streets and residential neighborhoods of Los Angeles and Inglewood, Calif., delivering its final payload to the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. With hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the streets during the 12-mile passage, dubbed “Mission 26,” successful delivery of the shuttle and the safety of people and property along the streets were major goals.

As Los Angeles residents and outer space enthusiasts crowded the streets for space shuttle Endeavour’s impressive moving presence, the LAPD relied on strategically placed high-definition (HD) cameras from Axis Communications and Milestone XProtect® Professional VMS to ensure the safety of all concerned. 

Along with the physical presence of security guards, first responders and engineers surrounding Endeavour, the HD network video cameras were temporarily deployed to monitor the event. The Los Angeles Police Department Major Crimes Technical Support Unit installed a series of Axis network cameras that were viewed and archived by the Milestone XProtect® software. 

A critical infrastructure wireless mesh IP radio network was the backbone for uninterrupted communications between the cameras and radio nodes for the mobile command center and video display. A wired solution was deemed impractical due to the vast distance between cameras over the planned shuttle route.  

“We had numerous cameras lining Endeavour’s path, with feeds from three to four devices on our screens at any moment. Milestone allowed us to split multiple views on our monitors, whereas other video products only allow a one-to-one monitor-to-camera solution. Milestone is intuitive and worked very well with our temporary camera setup. We were able to view and record in high definition with a flawless connection,” reported Rich Cowgill, Police Surveillance Specialist for the LAPD Major Crimes Technical Support Unit.