Nasa has installed new cameras and is upgrading others at short, medium and long-range camera sites around the Kennedy Space Center launch pad in Florida.

A total of 107 ground and aircraft-based cameras of different types record every second of the shuttle's flight into space.

Thirty-seven are based on and around the launch pad itself. Three new camera sites have been added to the existing short-range 35mm cameras around the spaceport perimeter, 70mm medium-range cameras are at six sites along the Florida coast, while 11 long-range cameras track the launch from sites up to 61 km (38 miles) away.

As well as stills cameras, some of which capture 100 frames per second, 19 High Definition Television (HDTV) cameras follow the shuttle for as long as it remains visible.