The view from up there

Posted on July 26, 2005 by Gene

It was an addition to help ensure safety, but the addition of cameras to the Shuttle made today’s launch so much more interesting and enlightening — watching live pictures from the orbiter instead of just a white dot as seen from Earth was amazing; being there when the external tank separated and seeing the ghost of thrusters firing in space… it was a realization — even though I still think the shuttle program is pretty much pointless — that we still can leave the planet, albeit only a short distance.
From out there, Earth is beautiful. It’s too bad that it gets so much less peaceful the closer you get.