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Discovery launch as viewed from a passenger flight
Geek-Cetera ^ | Feb. 26, 2011 | Matthew Humphries

Posted on 02/26/2011 12:41:30 PM PST by fightinJAG

follow the shuttle as it disappears into the outer atmosphere. This can create some truly stunning footage, especially as the rockets fire and the initial launch happens.

On Thursday Discovery got its last ascent into space, but this time instead of just seeing it from the ground, one lucky passenger flight also saw it from the air.

The flight was from Orlando, Florida, and it happened to be passing by the Kennedy Space Center just as the launch happened. We’re also lucky that one of the passengers had the sense to pull his camera out and start recording.

The footage gives you a true sense of just how fast the shuttle is travelling and the trajectory it takes. This is definitely one video for my YouTube favorites list.

(Excerpt) Read more at geek.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: discovery; nasa; shuttle; spaceshuttle
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1 posted on 02/26/2011 12:41:33 PM PST by fightinJAG
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To: fightinJAG

You can’t fool me. I know a contrail when I see one.


2 posted on 02/26/2011 12:45:05 PM PST by ClearCase_guy
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To: fightinJAG
And then, it turns and starts heading at the plane.

"Wait, that's not the Space Shuttle, IT'S AN SA-2!!!"

3 posted on 02/26/2011 12:45:08 PM PST by SIDENET ("If that's your best, your best won't do." -Dee Snider)
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To: fightinJAG

I saw it from Space View Park. Loved it.


4 posted on 02/26/2011 12:47:22 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: fightinJAG

Thats great and very clear for a passenger jet window. Thanks!


5 posted on 02/26/2011 12:48:23 PM PST by RedMDer (Stimulus... hasn't stimulated ANYTHING but The TEA PARTY!!! - Sarah Palin)
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To: fightinJAG

Very nice, wish he could have gotten it when the solid-rocket boosters broke away. I believe it happens just a little over 2 minutes into the launch?


6 posted on 02/26/2011 12:52:09 PM PST by rawhide
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To: fightinJAG

I watched it from Titusville - incredible!


7 posted on 02/26/2011 12:54:10 PM PST by Kaosinla (The More the Plans Fail. The More the Planners Plan.)
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To: fightinJAG

A
W
E
S
O
M
E
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


8 posted on 02/26/2011 12:55:39 PM PST by Danae (Anailnathrach ortha bhais beatha do cheal deanaimha)
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To: fightinJAG

Pretty neat....
Thanks for sharing.


9 posted on 02/26/2011 12:56:09 PM PST by HereInTheHeartland (Vote like Obama is on the ballot)
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To: fightinJAG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wx500lQskc&feature=related


10 posted on 02/26/2011 12:59:01 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour (With The Resistance...)
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To: fightinJAG

Fantastic!! Talk about “proud to American” then I remembered what is in the White House.


11 posted on 02/26/2011 1:02:11 PM PST by jesseam (Been there, done that)
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To: fightinJAG

I saw it go off from the top of a parking garage here in Savannah, Ga.

It was kind of hazy, but, we saw it from when it cleared the horizon until the SRBs fell off. Then we saw it go by us as it headed towards Europe.

Rocket Launches are cool!


12 posted on 02/26/2011 1:07:46 PM PST by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: fightinJAG

Nifty!


13 posted on 02/26/2011 1:14:23 PM PST by skr (May God confound the enemy)
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To: Conan the Librarian

One year we watched the launch on tv. They said it would be over our area in 8 minutes. We ran outside and saw it go over in the sky.

Fantastic.


14 posted on 02/26/2011 1:15:57 PM PST by fightinJAG (TAXPAYERS OF THE WORLD UNITE)
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To: SIDENET
"Wait, that's not the Space Shuttle, IT'S AN SA-2!!!"

Nah. SA-2s have a kind of corkscrew motion when they're coming at you.

15 posted on 02/26/2011 1:25:26 PM PST by Grut
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To: fightinJAG

That was cool.

I had always hoped to one day see a launch in person, but I guess I’ll just have to remove that from my bucket list.

I am saddened to see this come to an end..... Obama taints everything.


16 posted on 02/26/2011 1:27:13 PM PST by Gator113 (I'm voting for Sarah Palin, Liberty, our Constitution and American Exceptionalism.)
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To: fightinJAG
Here are 2 stills from a very rare video that was shot onboard the ISS on September 6, 2006 as it passed over South Florida during the launch of Shuttle Atlantis.





What I find interesting is that this demonstrates how the shuttle launches almost straight up while on the SRBs, and once they come off when the shuttle is above the thickest part of the atmosphere, the trajectory flattens out and the real acceleration begins...

17 posted on 02/26/2011 1:28:49 PM PST by Bean Counter (Stout Hearts)
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To: Bean Counter

Come to think of it, it was the ISS, not the shuttle, that we watched pass over our house. It was unbelievable.


18 posted on 02/26/2011 1:38:17 PM PST by fightinJAG (TAXPAYERS OF THE WORLD UNITE)
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To: Bean Counter

Those pictures were not taken from ISS. In the second picture, the SRB are still attached an almost the same altitude as the picture taker.

Cool pictures, not from the space station, they were taken via the NASA/JSC WB-57 high altitude research program.


19 posted on 02/26/2011 1:40:53 PM PST by Malsua
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To: fightinJAG

I saw the last lift-off worth watching, Apollo 17, the last time an American space ship actually WENT somewhere — other than to a make-work celestial jobs project.


20 posted on 02/26/2011 1:40:53 PM PST by RJR_fan (Lovers and winners shape the future. Losers and whiners TRY TO PREDICT IT.)
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