We had a bit of unexpected excitement up the mountain last night.
I got called outside to look at a fuzzy blob in the sky.
After seeing what we decided looked like the plume from a rocket, I raced back inside, grabbed my camera, and started shooting.
This “fuzzy blob” is the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket heading into space after it’s 3rd Launch from Cape Canaveral on June 25th at 2:30am eastern time.
We observed this spectacular sight at around 10pm last night in the northwestern sky as it passed over the Pacific Ocean.
The mission is called Space Test Program-2 (STP-2)
The rockets cargo includes an Airforce satellite, an atomic clock, the cremated ashes of 152 people and LightSail-2.
Lightsail-2 is an experimental satellite which harnesses the momentum of photons from the Sun as a source of perpetual propulsion. If proven successful this same Technology could be used to explore the furthest reaches of our solar system!
More information can be found at:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-technology-missions-launch-on-spacex-falcon-heavy/
85mm, F2.8, ISO12800. @ Mount John University Observatory
