26th
ck1:
Shuttle launch from the ISS“Hey guys, turn on the porch light…”
ETA: Ya know, upon closer observation, I have my doubts…altitude doesn’t look right. Researching…
Further ETA - Yea, it would have been cool if this was shot from the ISS, but appears not to be the case. The shot was apparently taken from the WB-57 High Altitude Research Aircraft. A stunning photograph, nonetheless. Here are some others from the WB-57. The ISS orbits at a distance of ~224 miles at its apogee, ~216, perigee. This photograph would have been taken from ~11.3 miles.
Holy crap… I was there. Kind of. I was getting my high performance and complex sign-offs (which means airplanes with more than 200hp and retractable landing gear, respectively) in a Piper Lance that day. We flew from Miami to Cape Canaveral and tracked the border of the restricted zone by GPS, and got to watch the takeoff from 10,000 ft. It’s mind-blowingly cool. I can’t believe this picture is from the same day. Theoretically, my plane was off to the left of the frame, and just barely above the cloud cover.
