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On July 8, 2011 the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched for the very last time. As the shuttle reached a height of about 70 miles over the east coast of the U.S., it released - as it always did shortly after launch - 350 tons of water vapor exhaust. As the plume of vapor spread and floated on air currents high in Earth's atmosphere, it crossed through the observation paths of seven separate sets of instruments. A group of scientists tracked the plume to learn more about the airflow in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) -- a region that is typically quite hard to study. [Source: NASA]
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