As I look at this amazing picture of the last flight related to the space shuttle taken by Ben Cooper, I am trying to recollect a line from some book (Science or Science fiction) that I read a long time back. It described space flight being imagined as a "Bird on the back of another Giant Bird", or some such words...
Does anyone here recollect the book, author, exact line?
I think it was Arthur C. Clarke but I am not sure and can't find the reference with what I remember.
There are strong connotations to the Virgin Atlantic take-off technique as that line described the idea of taking off from a higher altitude (if my memory serves).