We know nature is beautiful. Seeing as most of us live in a man-dominated world, viewing photos of nature is often an enjoyable task. Sometimes, however, man-made objects are also beautiful (in their own way). While a NASA space shuttle may not be as aesthetically pleasing as, say, an aurora borealis, it holds an aura of awe nonetheless due to the magnificent things it can do, namely fly into space. And it is hard to find a more striking photo of a space shuttle than one flying over a city with jet escorts (albeit on the back of a Boeing 747). Check it out:

For those of you that are curious, the shuttle in the above photo is the Endeavour flying over Los Angeles on its way to land at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport). The Endeavour will eventually make its way to California Science Center. Oh and those jets you see in front of the shuttle are called “chase jets” — they look like fighter jets, but they aren’t.

[via NASA]