Space ShuttleLift-Off at 2 :28 a.m.

"Spurting flames into a pitch-black sky, space shuttle Endeavour momentarily turned night to day as it blasted off at 2:28 a.m. ET Tuesday on a marathon mission to deliver the first Japanese section of the International Space Station." USA Today

We saw this Japanese section when we were at Kennedy Space Center a couple of weeks ago so I was motivated to get myself awake at 2:20 a.m., put on my jacket, shoes, and glasses and stand in Barbara's driveway (we're house-sitting for her here in Rockledge, FL about 20 miles from the Space Center).

All of a sudden, a huge area of sky was brightly lit - so bright that it looked like the Northern Lights, except it was all yellow from where I was sanding. I can't imagine how many watts must be produced to light such a large area! Then, I saw the fireball from the shuttle rise for only a few seconds until it disappeared into the thick cloud cover. (I didn't take this photo.)

Ed said he'd just watch the videos but this morning observed that they keep the cameras so close on the shuttle that you can't get a sense of the overall picture, which makes me all the more pleased that I got up for it!