sans_fi said:

The problem might be, during the long shot of the front view... that you might need fading the clouds to space (leaving the atmosphere).

I was about to suggest this too. Great minds eh!

I'm wondering how one would get the effect you see in movies when craft break through the Ozone layer. There's a slight blue haze as it goes through and then space. Might be worth taking a look at stuff like Apollo 13, Space Cowboys, Armageddon, Star Trek: First Contact. I'm assuming all these films utilize this effect.