Space Shuttle

I'm in Tampa this week installing my instrument on the P-3 in preparation for our California field study. I was eating breakfast in the hotel lobby this morning, when I saw on the news that the space shuttle was launching. So I went outside and saw a bright orange light off to the east. I ran to get my camera, but by the time I got it, the solid fuel boosters had burnt out, and the space shuttle looked like a bright (moving) star. Unfortunately, my camera didn't take a very good picture, but here it is:


On my way to work at the air force base, the sky was just starting to get light in the east, and the contrail left by the space shuttle looked magnificent! It was red at the lower elevations, white in the middle, and blue at the top. Then when the sun came up, the contrail became a rainbow of colors. Unfortunately, my camera was in the back of my car and I was driving. When I got to the hangar, I took this picture, which by then looked more like a normal contrail:



UPDATE: Here's a photo of the contrails from a local newspaper: