Starship Asterisk*

[url=http://news.discovery.com/space/epic-endeavour-reentry-from-yucat%C3%A1n-peninsula-110601.html][size=120][b][i]Epic Endeavour Reentry Over the Yucatán Peninsula[/i][/b][/size][/url]
Discovery News | Ian O'Neall | 2011 Jun 01
[quote][float=left][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-FzYdYT724[/youtube][/float]
If there's one video you must see today, it's this.

As shuttle Endeavour [url=http://news.discovery.com/space/space-shuttles-passing-in-the-night-110601.html][b]rapidly descended toward Florida in the early hours of Wednesday morning[/b][/url] (EST), its flightpath passed over the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.

From Yucatán's capital city, Mérida, [url=http://www.facebook.com/noecastillospotter?sk=wall][b]videographer Noe Castillo[/b][/url] was on the lookout for Endeavour's reentry only minutes before it touched down at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., nearly 800 miles away. Fortunately, he had clear skies and steadily tracked Endeavour's final reentry.

The beautiful orange glow is the ionization trail the shuttle is generating as the spacecraft punched through the upper atmosphere. As the shuttle was traveling over the Yucatán Peninsula, it was at an altitude of around 40 miles.[/quote]

Totally in agreement with Owlice, beautiful landing!
Greetings
César

A beautiful landing and ending, made moreso by the words of the first and third gentlemen heard in the video.

[size=50][i]Please pass the tissues.[/i][/size]

[float=left][img3=""]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/555195main_image_1964_946-710.jpg[/img3][/float]
[url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1964.html][size=150][b][i]The Final Voyage[/i][/b][/size][/url]
NASA IOTD | 2011 Jun 01

[i]Space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-134 mission made its final landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, June 1, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Endeavour, completed a 16-day mission to outfit the International Space Station. Endeavour spent 299 days in space and traveled more than 122.8 million miles during its 25 flights. It launched on its first mission on May 7, 1992.

[b]Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls[/b][/i]
[clear][/clear]
[float=left][img3=""]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/555112main_1963_946-710.jpg[/img3][/float]
[url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1963.html][size=150][b][i]Endeavour's Final Journey Home[/i][/b][/size][/url]
NASA IOTD | 2011 Jun 01

[i]A vapor trail follows space shuttle Endeavour as it approaches Runway 15 on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Endeavour landed at 2:35 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 1, 2011, wrapping up the STS-134 mission. During the 16-day mission, Commander Mark Kelly and crew delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station.

[b]Credit: NASA/Chuck Tintera[/b][/i]
[clear][/clear]
[float=left][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhNDr-5nANA[/youtube][/float]
[url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/jun/HQ_11-173_STS-134_Lands.html][size=150][b][i]Endeavour Sails To Home Port For Final Time[/i][/b][/size][/url]
NASA Breaking News | 2011 Jun 01

[i]Space shuttle Endeavour and its six-astronaut crew sailed home for the final time, ending a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 million miles with a landing at 2:34 a.m. EDT on Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

STS-134 was the last mission for the youngest of NASA's space shuttle fleet. Since 1992, Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles.

[b]Credit: NASA[/b][/i]