Godspeed, Discovery.

Jeff Gammons posted this photo of Discovery's launch on his stormchaser blog [here]. That page also has a link to Jeff's video of the full launch. Jeff's video gives you a little different perspective than most of the news vids.

Eight minutes after the launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Discovery appeared in the southwestern sky over our house in the Tidewater.

Now, Virigina is not Alaska, but it still gets cold by the mid of December. Nevertheless, Finkie had run outside barefoot and was leaping around with excitement as we saw the glowing cannister arc through the sky.

There were several airplanes in the sky as well. We wondered if, right then, a Captain was saying "Ladies and Gentlemen, if you'll look out your window, you can catch a glimpse of the Discovery Space Shuttle on its way to the International Space Station."

That would have to be awesome. But seeing Discovery light up the sky and fly over your horizon is right up there, too.