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Credit & Copyright: NASA  
 
Explanation:
What's that rising from the clouds?    
  
The space shuttle.  
  
Sometimes, if you looked out the window of an airplane at just the right place and  
time, you could have seen something very unusual -- a space shuttle launching to  
orbit.    
  
Images of the rising shuttle and its plume  
became widely circulated over the web shortly after   
Endeavour's final launch in 2011 May.  
  
The above  
image was taken from a shuttle training aircraft by NASA 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 US Space Shuttle program concluded in 2011, and   
Endeavour can now be   
visited at the   
California Science Center.    
  
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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
Publications with words: space shuttle Endeavour
See also:
