Categories: Space FlightSpace Shuttle

Unique Perspective: Shuttle Launch as Seen from Airplane, Balloon, and Freefall

This frame grab from a video -- shot by a GoPro Hero Motorsport camera aboard the Robonaut-1 balloon -- shows the shuttle Discovery streaking toward space on its final mission. The shot was taken at 5:05 EST on Feb. 24, 2011 as the balloon was traveling through the troposphere. Credit: Quest for Stars/Challenger Center

I thought I had a great view of space shuttle Discovery’s final launch, seeing it from the Kennedy Space Center press site. But there were a few other people who had a pretty unique perspective on the launch. A passenger on an airplane, Neil Monday, who was flying out of the Orlando, Florida airport, recorded the shuttle launch with his iPhone, above. That is just awesome. Want more unique views of the launch?

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The students from Quest For Stars who were attempting to capture an image of Discovery’s launch from a high altitude balloon (see our preview article) were successful and the team has released a couple of images, including the one above. They say they will be releasing the “best of the best” of their images later this week at the Next Generation Suborbital Research conference. They have a great video of their balloon popping, sending their payload into a quick freefall.

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Fred Leslie jumps from an aircraft as Discovery lifts off behind him. Image via the Hunstville Times, courtesy of Fred and Kathy Leslie.

Speaking of freefall, former astronaut Fred Leslie and his wife Kathy wanted to do something special to commemorate Discovery’s final launch. They jumped from an aircraft over Deland, Fla., and timed it so they could get a photograph with Discovery taking off in the background. Read more about it in the Huntsville Times.

And of course, if you want to see more launch images, we have a great gallery of the STS-133 launch as seen by our cadre of reporters and photographers who were on hand for Discovery’s historic launch.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/