Toyota helps history happen—the auto giant will provide its Toyota Tundra, a half-ton pickup truck, to tow the 300,000-pound Endeavour space shuttle to its final destination, a resting spot at the California Science Center. The brand has launched a campaign, developed by Saatchi & Saatchi L.A., to support this historical undertaking and is calling the public to contribute to the scientific center with their #TundraEndeavour tweets.

The campaign launched on September 17, and the endeavour itself is scheduled for October 13, 2012, when the space shuttle will cover a quarter-mile distance to its final home, where it will be on the permanent display. The brand unveiled a half-animated 2:15 spot with an action movie soundtrack to inform the audience of the great mission to deliver the space artifact to its last home and unveil the details on how this all is being realized. “Toyota Presents: The Tundra Endeavour—The Challenge” is the first spot in the series of five videos, which will be aired in the coming days, demonstrating the Tundra’s capability to tow this historical object, which “is really heavy and it’s also quite big.”

“There is no larger or more recognizable icon of the U.S. space program’s success than the shuttle, and to have it towed by the Toyota Tundra is not only an incredible example of the capabilities of the truck, but an honor to be part of history. The entire journey is something the world will be watching, and gives us a chance to prove that the ‘overbuilt’ Tundra is built to do any job—even tow the space shuttle,” commented said Ed Laukes, TMS vice president of marketing communications.

The www.toyota.com/tundraendeavour micro-site is counting weeks, days and hours to the moment when “a half-ton truck tows its way into history”—the black page with grey and red letters announces the upcoming videos as well as calls the audience to help raise money for the shuttle’s new home by just sending a tweet—for every ‘bird’ message Toyota will donate $50 to the California Science Center, up to $500,000 (so far, users have helped generate $18,900). “Down the road, we’re hoping to bring some of the Endeavour astronauts to be part of the program, but that’s still in the works. This isn’t advertising. It’s history. And the Tundra wants to be part of it,” shared Chris Adams, executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi L.A.