Sexy launch!

I have to said that until yesterday, I never paid much attention to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V launches. Which is a bit of a shame since that launch vehicle first stage is powered by a Russian RD-180 engine and also since the launches are really beautiful, especially yesterday launch (NRO L-24). They had some very clear close-up views of the rocket during ascent which were brilliant. No on board camera (so it seems) this time sadly. The video is available for download on the NasaSpaceflight.com's forum (free, but you will have to register to get access to it). I haven't found it anywhere else, but just as a preview, here's a video of the highlights of a previous launch (Hotbird-6) from YouTube:

Quite neat isn't it? Make sure you do watch yesterday launch! :-)