Man watches space shuttle launch... from his allotment in ENGLAND



A man watched the launch of the space shuttle Discovery in America from his allotment in England.

Donald Lyven, 53, saw the spaceship lift off in Florida on his television just after 5am, then amazingly spotted it in the skies near his home just 20 minutes later.

The decorator even captured the Nasa craft on camera as he saw it fly past overhead.

Donald Lyven, 53, saw the spaceship lift off in Florida just before 5am (GMT) on his TV then spotted outside minutes later

Lift-off: Mr Lyven watched the launch of the Space shuttle Discovery on TV in the early morning

The fainter trail from the spacecraft is from the main fuel tank, which is ditched during launch.

'It was an absolutely magnificent sight and I don't think many people would have known about it and seen it,' said Mr Lyven, from Finchley, Herts.

'Because of the angle of the orbit I knew the space shuttle would come over the UK so I watched it take off on TV, then drove to my allotments to see it go past.

'Sure enough 20 minutes later it appeared from the West and it's orange fuel tank was visible for three minutes. It was remarkable.'

The latest shuttle mission is part of the crew rotation and re-supply of the International Space Station. The shuttle arrived at the station on Sunday to deliver more than seven tons of food, supplies, equipment and spare parts to the £60billion orbital outpost.





Astronauts have performed two spacewalks so far, removing an empty ammonia tank with the robotic arm and replacing it with a full one. The new tank is essential for keeping the orbiter cool. The old one will be returned to Earth on the Discovery shuttle.

The shuttle was also used to ferry a large pressurised container called Leonardo to the station. It contains a collection of experiments for studying the physics and chemistry of microgravity.

Discovery is due back at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on September 10.

Astronaut Niclole Stott works in the Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay just days after launch

Nicole Stott and European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, both Expedition 20 flight engineers, work in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station

Nasa are planning to retire the 30-year-old space shuttle fleet next year. There are just seven more flights planned to the International Space Station. After this the U.S will rely on the Russians to ferry astronauts into space.

The U.S. government is currently deciding if it can afford a new space exploration programme. The Constellation mission is due to take man back to the Moon by 2020, but may fall at the first hurdle due to budget cuts.