An orbiting satellite locked onto an F-15 Eagle over Kennedy Space Center during a shuttle mission.See that big trench below the shuttle? During a launch it is filled completly with water. NASA does this to muffle the sound of the engines and rockets and is also what actually creates that huge white plume during lift-off.
[danharlow.com]
Now this is a great photo and all, but I think its from a chase plane rather then satellite. Not to say a satellite wouldn’t be able to get that sharp of a picture, it just normally wouldn’t be able to lock onto a plane at that angle.
Tags: Aviation, Interesting, Photographs, Space
Also, the trench never actually is filled with water. While it is called a trench it is a flame trench and is what guides the flames away from the shuttle. Water is sprayed onto the pad by 12 ft. high nozzles just at main engine ignition. This is to help with sound vibrations and to prevent any extra flames onto parts of the pad it should not be on.