Party Videos of Endeavour’s Launch

Whenever we report on the launch of the shuttle, the video footage and pictures come directly from NASA. That’s great, for high resolution, and all. Don’t worry, we’ll be burying you with it over the course of STS-123. But I think there’s something missing from it. The exhilaration (I can only assume) that comes when you watch a shuttle actually take off.

So, I’m going to show you a few videos of the shuttle’s night launch captured at parties at homes near the Cape. It’s not as good quality as NASA might provide. But there an emotional impact from the people in the room that more than offsets this. You lucky, lucky people.

I’ve really really got to watch one of these take off before they stop flying.

Oh, and here’s the full NASA version