Night Launch
Adventures of a first-time shuttle photographer.
- By Ed Darack
- AirSpaceMag.com, October 13, 2010
Ed Darack
Like the night before, a number of journalists arrived at the media site within an hour of the planned launch. We passed the 30-minute mark, then the 15, then 5. Once the clock hit T-20 seconds, everyone at the water’s edge became quiet. At T-15, the first of the 300,000 gallons of water of the sound suppression system crashed onto the launch pad below the craft’s engines. Endeavour’s three main engines fired in quick succession at approximately T-6 seconds. I waited for the flash of the solid rocket boosters, at which point the shuttle would be orbit bound. This image, shot within one second of solid rocket booster ignition, is taken from one of my remote cameras. After setting the focus manually, I had taped the focus ring so that the vibrations caused by the launch wouldn’t shake it out of focus.
With a burst of light, Endeavour lumbered into the sky at 4:14:08 EST, quickly accelerating as it roared through a low deck of clouds and began its eastward arc.
Within minutes, the shuttle was just a pinprick of light—albeit a very bright pinprick.
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Comments (1)
This photo is very nice, and i like the arch.
Posted by Bryce Desy on November 3,2010 | 02:52 PM