This document is directly from NASA. It is older, but the brightness of the shuttle hasn't changed over the years.
It is the official "Photographic Exposure Guidelines for Night Space Shuttle Launches."
KSC Release No. 76-97
Note that after the shuttle clears the pad, the exposure value is approx EV14. That is very bright. There is no reason to crank your ISO up so high to 1600 or 3200. Using the above guidelines, you can decide what exposure combination to use. I will be at this next launch and I will be shooting 400mm, at 1/1000s, f/5.6 at ISO400 from about 4 miles away. The reason I am using ISO 400 at the faster shutter speed instead of say, ISO 100 and 1/250 is that I am going to be handholding, and I don't want to have any blur due to camera shake or shuttle motion.
Where are you going to view the Shuttle? I assume you are going to the next launch on the 7th?
Last edited by PentaxPoke; 01-28-2010 at 01:40 AM.