Searching for a long-exposure airbourne picture of a shuttle launch... at night!

September 5, 2009 6:11 AM

About 12 months ago I saw what looked like a long-exposure shot of a shuttle launch, at night, from a high vantage point (possibly a helecopter). My efforts to find it since have not since located this stunning shot, despite searches of the usual, common-sense general and subject specific sites. Would the hive mind be able to help with this?
posted by Mrevilbreakfast to media & arts (4 comments total)

Was it by any chance this one? It doesn't meet your criteria of being shot from a high vantage point, but on the other hand a helicopter would make a terrible platform for long exposures, and a high vantage point for a shuttle launch would have to be a satellite. ;)
posted by FishBike at 7:13 AM on September 5

Could it be this one? It's not long exposure, but it is from an aerial viewpoint.
posted by alby at 7:53 AM on September 5

Can you describe the photograph better? What did the arc look like, and how was it oriented? Was there water in the foreground? Buildings? Helicopters fly at the height of buildings, and at the height of planes—which was it closer to? Do you know which launch it was? What else do you remember?

The reason I ask is, doing a simple GIS for shuttle+launch+night yields numerous stunning images that fit your description, and I don't have any way of knowing which you've ruled out already and which would be good answers.
posted by carsonb at 8:14 AM on September 5

You may be thinking of these aerial launch shots that have circulated pretty widely. They were taken from a WB-57 chase plane, which is part of the standard flight photography suite in the post-Columbia era.

This one may or may not be a WB-57 but shows an F-15 so it might be the partner.

And here's one with an F-22.

This one is earthbound but might fit your other criteria. It's NYT.

This is 51-I.

This is STS-2 and so is this.
posted by dhartung at 1:53 PM on September 5