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An amazing sight lit up the eastern sky this morning, and a couple of our listeners were able to share two amazing pictures.
The engines and exhaust of a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, could be seen as it headed into orbit. The rocket launched at 4:55 AM, and was visible in our area just after 5:00 AM. The launch was originally scheduled for 3:00 AM, but was delayed.
Dr. Donald Luttermoser, Professor and Department Chair of Physic and Astronomy at ETSU, said the brightest light visible would have been the engines of the Falcon 9 rocket, with the tail being the exhaust as the rocket hurled toward orbit. Luttermoser worked with NASA in the 1990s, and said the images that were taken by Greene Countians are consistent with an upper stage separating from the lower stage of a rocket, which took place about 2:30 into the launch. The rocket would have been about 50 miles in altitude and travelling at nearly 5,000 miles per hour at that point. Luttermoser has been the Department Chair and Professor at ETSU since 2012, and first came to ETSU in 1996 after his career at NASA.
Beth Landers, who lives in Sunnyside, said she saw the event at 5:03 AM and had time to get her camera out and take a picture. Landers said the moving at a medium speed and seemed to disappear over the horizon.
Suzanne Masoner was also able to get a picture from her house on Bright Hope Road. Masoner said she was outside right at 5:00 AM and noticed the bright was enjoying the sunrise and said it took about twenty seconds to disappear below the tree line. It was moving parallel to the ground The tail remained visible for another ten minutes.
Tim Hensley in Midway said he was able to follow the rocket for about fifteen seconds.
Amber and Wes Brobeck were walking down to enjoy a beach sunrise walk in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, when they were surprised to see this in the morning sky.
Jesse Strohbeen had one of the best views, from the window of an airplane as he was taking off from Miami.
Duane Gibson was vacationing in Dayton Beach and grabbed these images. From his vantage point, he may have also been able to see the first stage booster landing. The vapors from the launch also were visible in the sky for over an hour. SpaceX rockets detach their bottom stage and guide it back to Earth, landing it on a floating platform out at sea. The landing of the booster took place about 8 1/2 minutes after launch on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. The booster landing would not have been visible from East Tennessee, but was visible at many locations in Florida.
These screengrabs of the launch video show the rocket right after ignition and at the stage separation before the second engine has ignited. The lights visible in the background are from the eastern seaboard of the United States.
SpaceX’s webpage shows the path of the launch which travelled up the east coast, making it visible across much of the eastern United States.
