Very cool. I get to see these quite frequently. 
Really? Are they as squirrelly looking as the pic? Looks like something I might have launched. 
djm
djm’s rocket 
Yup, sometimes the draft of the rocket spirals the vapor trail. This effect becomes really noticable after 10 minutes or so as the vapor expands and evaporates.
That’s just what they tell you so you don’t know how badlyl they screwed up! 
The pic I posted has GOT to be some sort of NASA photo…right?
Oh, oh, ooo, I know what it is! The space shittle has a wheel hour of alignment! That always causes my older cars to wobble like that!
Note the smoothness of its flight, the eveness of the inward spiral, the control and intention evident at every moment, the … splat! 
djm
We got to watch the space shuttle launch about 4 years ago. Actually, we
didn’t quite see it “launch”. We were heading to the space center from
Orlando and got caught in tourist traffic on the toll-way. Talk about a
parking lot!!! It was so bad, they just opened the toll gates to try and
alleviate some of the congestion – but it still didn’t help. We were about
10 miles from the space center and traffic had been at a complete stand-
still for quite a while. Everyone just got out of their cars and watched.
The radio announced the launch, then 2 -3 minutes later we saw a ball of
fire as large as my open hand [and i have big hands] arcing into the sky
above the tree tops on the horizon, and we could make out the low
rumble of the engines. Everyone just stood there in the middle of the toll-
way watching for several more minutes as it appeared to be sucked up by
the sky and its size dwindled to nothing. It was impressive, although a
nighttime show would have been quite spectacular, I’m sure.
That particular launch was supposed to reach it’s zenith somewhere
around the equator, so it had a pretty good arc, instead of going more or
less straight up in the air. The mission, I believe, was mapping part
of the Southern Hemisphere.
This isn’t intended to sabotage the thread, but when you find yourself in
that kind of traffic mess on the highway where everyone is only going to
see a shuttle launch, you know that there is NO way cities
can be evacuated if there is a last minute emergency.
Will O’Ban