Credit & Copyright: NASA
Explanation:
What's that rising from the clouds?
The space shuttle.
If you looked out the window of an airplane at just the right place and time last
week, you could have seen something very unusual -- the space shuttle Endeavour launching
to orbit.
Images of the rising shuttle and its plume
became widely circulated over the web shortly after
Endeavour's final launch.
The above
image was taken from a shuttle training aircraft and is not
copyrighted.
Taken well above the clouds, the image can be matched with similar images of the
same shuttle plume taken
below
the clouds.
Hot glowing gasses expelled by the engines are visible near the
rising shuttle, as well
as a long smoke plume.
A shadow of the plume appears on the cloud deck, indicating
the direction of the Sun.
The shuttle
Endeavour remains docked with
the
International Space Station and is currently scheduled to return to Earth next
week.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: space shuttle Endeavour - shadow - launch - clouds
Publications with words: space shuttle Endeavour - shadow - launch - clouds
See also:
- APOD: 2025 January 5 Á Rocket Launch as Seen from the International Space Station
- APOD: 2024 November 19 Á Undulatus Clouds over Las Campanas Observatory
- Sky Full of SARs
- APOD: 2024 July 7 Á Iridescent Clouds over Sweden
- APOD: 2024 April 23 Á Contrail Shadow X
- APOD: 2024 February 11 Á Rocket Plume Shadow Points to the Moon
- APOD: 2024 January 22 Á Shadows of Mountain and Moon