Space Shuttle Discovery rocketed into orbit tonight just before midnight Eastern Standard Time. We watched the final seconds on TV and then walked outside to watch it head into space. The tail of flame you see during a night launch is amazing. Every launch is an amazing thing – but night launches are even more amazing in the way they light up the night shy.
This short 41 second clip takes you from about 35 seconds or so after launch until just after separation of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB’s) which happen off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.
I wish I had started the video part earlier in the launch but I tried to take a couple of photos and they were blurry. Next time I will video tape the entire thing.
In case you were wondering I shot this with my Olympus SP-565 Ultra Zoom camera that I received a couple of months ago – I think it did a very decent job of it.