Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to the Moon

Why would the shadow of a space shuttle launch plume point toward the Moon? In early 2001 during a launch of Atlantis , the Sun , Earth , Moon , and rocket were all properly aligned for this photogenic coincidence . First, for the space shuttle 's plume to cast a long shadow, the time of day must be either near sunrise or sunset . Only then will the shadow be its longest and extend all the way to the horizon . Finally, during a Full Moon , the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the sky. Just after sunset , for example, the Sun is slightly below the horizon , and, in the other direction, the Moon is slightly above the horizon . Therefore, as Atlantis blasted off, just after sunset , its shadow projected away from the Sun toward the opposite horizon, where the Full Moon just happened to be.