For this week's APOD, I chose the picture called Space Shuttle Rising, uploaded on May 25. It is an image of the space shuttle Endeavor rising out of the clouds, and into its orbit.
This picture was taken during the Endeavor's final launch. This particular image has been widely circulated throughout the web, and was taken by a non-copyrighted spacecraft in training. NASA is given credit for this image. The picture is one of many photos of the spacecraft, many others of which were taken when the space shuttle was under the clouds. The mission is called STS-134, and it contains six crew members. Lift off was in the morning on May 16. Behind the shuttle, there is a visible trail of smoke, along with a blazing flow of gases closer by the Endeavor. If one looks closely, it is seen that part of the smoke has a shadow to it, which helps to indicate which direction the light source is coming from. The mission is scheduled to come back next week, but in the meantime, it is docked with the International Space Station. The space craft will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2(AMS), Experts Logistics Carrier-3(a high pressure gas tank), and other additional spare parts for the Dextre robotic helper to the International Space Station.
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