Explanation:
The space shuttle orbiter Discovery
is now docked with the
International Space Station,
some 350 kilometers
above
planet Earth.
Last Monday, its
launch to orbit was a beautiful one as it
rose into clear,
predawn skies at 6:21am EDT
from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A.
Looking east, this time exposure was taken shortly after lift off from a
marina about 13 miles west of the launch site
in Titusville, Florida.
It shows the dawn's emerging colors along the horizon, with wafting
rocket contrails at the upper right.
The bright streak surrounded by the remarkable, elongated, vapor cloud
near the center of the image is the actual track
of Discovery, arcing toward the horizon and its
orbital rendezvous.
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