Shuttle Launch

I went to the bridge over the ICW near our house today and watched the shuttle take off. The one thing you can't get a good understanding of when watching it on TV is it's acceleration. It comes into view just after takeoff as fireball. Then it really starts moving obviously faster and faster as it goes out over the ocean.

The smoke is produced by the solid rocket boosters. You can see in the 'close up' shot - the shuttle separating from the solid rocket boosters. This is easy to see from the ground.