I set my iPhone on the grass and let it record the launch.
![web_liftoff_endeavourlaunch_0106](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5062/5758253493_2c66f87958_o.jpg)
This is my only decent shot of Endeavour before it hit the clouds.
![web_shadow_endeavourlaunch_0112](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2026/5758797282_f13cc9ee14_o.jpg)
These altocumulus clouds were so low that the people at the Launch Complex 39 press site only had a few moments to watch Endeavour. The most interesting part was how the sun shining against the contrail cast a shadow onto the top of the cloud deck.
![teaser_launchshadow_pano](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5758816146_ab7bf107e2_o.jpg)
This panorama shows how the arcing contrail was mirrored onto the top of the mackerel sky.
Even though I was close -- 3 miles from the launch pad -- shuttle Endeavour lifted off and disappeared above a thick cloud deck.
For the previous shuttle launch, I was 40 miles south when I saw a few seconds of fire from Discovery's rocket boosters, then nothing. People watching at Kennedy Space Center, however, saw the whole eight-minute show.
This time, the people 40 miles to the south saw the whole thing while I -- stationed at the closest possible viewing location -- once again received only a few seconds of joy.
But I should be comforted by the knowledge that most people have never and will never get the opportunity to get as close to the shuttle that I did during the NASA "tweetup."
For the previous shuttle launch, I was 40 miles south when I saw a few seconds of fire from Discovery's rocket boosters, then nothing. People watching at Kennedy Space Center, however, saw the whole eight-minute show.
This time, the people 40 miles to the south saw the whole thing while I -- stationed at the closest possible viewing location -- once again received only a few seconds of joy.
But I should be comforted by the knowledge that most people have never and will never get the opportunity to get as close to the shuttle that I did during the NASA "tweetup."
![web_cbsmoon_endeavourlaunch_0017](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5758797950_5b45a1b164_o.jpg)
I took several shots before the launch, including this one of a nearly full moon setting behind the CBS News building at the press site.
![web_tweeps_endeavourlaunch_0024](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/5758253931_231df30126_o.jpg)
These were fellow participants in the NASA tweetup who had attended the scrubbed launch attempt in late April. That's when the astronauts were headed to the launch pad and did a U-turn in their Astrovan after officials declared an electrical problem on Endeavour.
![web_astronauts_endeavourlaunch_0029](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2794/5758797824_c52a9cfca8_o.jpg)
Astronauts waved to the tweeps.
![web_conjunctionhori_endeavourlaunch_0045](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/5758797736_9c7726306c_o.jpg)
Venus and Jupiter rose on the eastern horizon just before the sun started to come up.
![web_floodlights_endeavourlaunch_0064](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/5758797674_ec3386fc4a_o.jpg)
The launch pad was illuminated through dawn, with some thick clouds far offshore.
![web_conjunctionwide_endeavourlaunch_0081](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/5758253641_0a54d0ee80_o.jpg)
With this photo, I tried to show the brilliance of Endeavour's launch pad and the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, which are reflected on the water.
![web_conjunctionvertical_endeavourlaunch_0088](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2624/5758797562_b1c39195fd_o.jpg)
This body of water, of course, is the known as the Turn Basin.
![web_crowdliftoff_endeavourlaunch_0105](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3542/5758253541_1feb457cc7_o.jpg)
The countdown went well, and Endeavour lifted off.
![web_ipad_endeavourlaunch_0100](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/5758253351_e6de2a4310_o.jpg)
One of the tweeps used an iPad to take pictures of the liftoff, which gave me a chuckle.
![web_plume_endeavourlaunch_0108](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5758253443_7f8036863d_o.jpg)
With clouds obstructing our view of Endeavour, I just took photos of the clouds that Endeavour made.
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