Space Shuttle Launch, Seen from Airplane

If you’ve seen a space shuttle launch from the ground, it’s an amazing experience — so I’m told. Despite living in Florida for 13 years, I never made it to a launch, though I’ve seen footage of tons of them, always shot from the ground. Here’s a rare view of Discovery’s final launch on its STS-133 flight — as seen from onboard an airplane flying nearby. Beautiful and moving — and this is the last time we’ll ever see this happen.

My favorite line comes from a flight attendant over the intercom: “Drinks are on the house.”

(Via Daring Fireball.)