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Very true, and the facts about clarity and such can play havoc with perceptions. The shuttle does bank heavily to both sides upon reentry. I don't think it's doing that but we really can't tell, or at least I can't. I also think one of the reasons much of this looks distorted is that we're not really seeing the actual shuttle but the bright ionic plasma layer. There's about a dozen or so things that could give distortion to the pics.

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With reguard to the plume, this is not necessarily true. You might be right in this case, but often the plume is seen when the gases cool in the surrounding atmosphere after the vessle has passed. So if you get too close, the vapor trail will not be visable within the picture. Just depends on the atmospheric conditions.