Liftoff With the Space Shuttle
			
		
		
			Credit & Copyright:  Dan Maas 
(Maas Digital), 
Ecliptic 
Enterprises Corporation, 
Lockheed Martin, 
NASA
		
		
			What would it look like to see a 
Space Shuttle 
liftoff from just above the shuttle?  
Because the answer has value in assessing spacecraft performance, 
NASA attached a small 
RocketCam to the side of the 
External Tank on the 
launch of the 
Space Shuttle Atlantis earlier this month.  
The above five-frame movie, excerpted from a 
longer video sequence, 
shows in dramatic fashion what it looks like to ride 
into space while 
looking back at the 
Earth. 
In the final frame, taken about 15 minutes after 
liftoff, the shuttle can 
be seen separating from the 
External Tank and proceeding 
to orbit.