Historic Endeavour launch filmed from plane window

A man looking out of his plane window at 32,000ft had a perfect bird’s-eye view to record this footage of space shuttle Endeavour blasting off into space on its final mission.

Brian Lifrieri, who was flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to White Plains, New York, recorded the historic moment on film as the orbiter rocketed into space for the last time at 08.56 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Monday from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre.

[Story: Endeavour launches for last time]

During the video, passengers can be seen watching the space shuttle launch on their in-flight televisions before getting the chance to see it live for themselves as the 19-year-old shuttle shot up into orbit past their cabin windows.

The rocket is seen leaving a long trail of condensation behind it - dubbed by NASA as the ‘rocket road.’

An iPhone video taken by a passenger on another flight bound for Palm Beach also became an Internet sensation seconds after she posted it on Twitter.

Luckily for her she woke up just in time to see the exclusive sight while an estimated 500,000 spectators watched it take-off from the ground.

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During the 16 day mission, the shuttle’s commander Mark Kelly and his crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and spare parts to the orbiting laboratory.