ARIEL SHUTTLE LAUNCH

This picture has been making the rounds as a picture taken of the space shuttle taking off as seen from The International Space Station.  While it is true that these imaged are amazing, the description is somewhat misleading.

These pictures were actually taken of the space shuttle Atlantis as it blasted off from Cape Canaveral on September 9, 2006 from a NASA/JSC WB-57 High Altitude Research Aircraft well inside Earth's atmosphere and yet high enough to see the slight curve of the planet.

Still, no matter how you look at it, this image gives us an amazing view of something we normally only see from the safety of the Earth's surface.