RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – The SpaceX Polaris Dawn rocket that launched from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday morning was visible from North Carolina.
Just before the sun came up, the rocket got high enough in the atmosphere where the sun illuminated the vapor trail while it was still dark on the ground.
One CBS 17 viewer in south Raleigh sent the following image at around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday:
Carrying four people, the mission aims to make spaceflight history by conducting the first-ever commercial spacewalk. If all goes as planned, the crew will be the first private astronauts to leave their spacecraft to float above the Earth in spacesuits.
Another mission goal is to venture further than anyone since the NASA Apollo moonshots. The spacewalk is set for Thursday, which is halfway through the five-day flight.
The Polaris Dawn spaceflight is slated to be the highest any human has flown since the Apollo program that ended in 1972. Only the 24 Apollo astronauts have traveled a further distance.