Remarks: "Atlantis" departs Earth on mission STS-129 at 2:28 p.m from Launch Complex 39A at NASA-KSC with a collection of spare parts to the International Space Station. The trajectory shaping for the orbital insertion to catch up with the ISS (@17,180 mph or Mach 23) can be seen in the toxic smoke trail. The "stack" climbs in a progressively flattening arc, accelerating as the weight of the SRBs and main tank decrease. To achieve low orbit requires much more horizontal than vertical acceleration.
