Did You See It? SpaceX Launch Was Visible In Region
by Alex Lloyd Gross
A SpaceX rocket, carrying four astronauts (two Americans, a Russian, and one from France), successfully launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 5:15 AM. Just five minutes later, the rocket could be seen in this region, if you knew where to look.
To the south and southeast, the overnight/early morning sky was mostly clear, providing a great view. At first, the rocket appeared as a smudge of diffused light against the sky. You could tell it was something significant by the way it moved quickly in a northern direction. It was clearly not an airplane.
The astronauts will spend eight months on the International Space Station conducting experiments in microgravity. The rocket was a two-stage Falcon 9, with the crew capsule named Crew Dragon atop it.
The mission was led by Jessica Meir, 48, a veteran astronaut and marine biologist on her second trip to the space station, nearly seven years after making history with NASA colleague Christina Koch by completing history’s first all-female spacewalk.
This launch could be seen by people in Delaware, New Jersey, and parts of Eastern Pennsylvania, including Bucks County, Philadelphia, and Eastern Montgomery County. You didn’t need any special telescope to see it. The rocket was visible in the area for about two minutes.