There is nothing wrong with the launch sequence. It causes them to move
directly away from the station, on a slight spiral, facing out to the stars
from the pilot's POV. Whether or not it looks funky has little to do with
whether or not this is the most efficient means of doing this. I think it's
kind of funky that the space shuttle flies upside down while in orbit, its
cargo bay facing down toward Earth, but that's the way it's done, and there
are good reasons for it. We sat down for a very long time with a bunch of
designers and techies who know physics and know math and know flight dynamics,
we ran computer models, and the physics are right.

jms