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A SpaceX rocket, complete with Dragon astronaut capsule, looks stunning in the dawn twilight as the sun rises over its Florida launch pad in this stunning series of photos from the private spaceflight company.
What is it?
These SpaceX photos show its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Endurance capsule as they stand atop the launch pad on March 11, just one day before a planned launch of four astonauts on March 12. The rocket will launch NASA’s Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station to begin a six-month mission for the astronaut quartet. Flying on the mission will be Crew-10 commander Anne McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers, both of NASA, along with mission specialists Takuya Onishi of Japan and Kirill Peskov of Russia.
The upcoming launch will mark the fourth crewed flight for the Dragon spacecraft Endurance, and will feature a used Falcon 9 first-stage booster, which is evident in the soot and wear visible in the photos. SpaceX aims to land the rocket again at a nearby landing pad after liftoff. These photos, provided by SpaceX, appear to have been captured by launch photographer Ben Cooper, who shared the view of Endurance at sunrise on social media.
Where is it?
SpaceX will launch the Crew-10 astronaut mission from its pad at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch pad is historic, and saw some of NASA’s most iconic missions, including Apollo 11, which landed the first astronauts on the moon in 1969. NASA’s space shuttle program also used the pad for many missions, with SpaceX signing a 20-year lease with NASA for the site in 2014.
Why is it amazing?
While we love all things space at Space.com, launch photography often stands out because of the juxtaposition between the engineering of the rocket and the stark beauty of their surroundings. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center sits on Florida’s east coast amidst a nature preserve, leading to striking seaside photos as dawn breaks, bathing the rocket in twilight and later the orange glow of the sun.
Want to know more?
NASA cleared the Crew-10 astronauts for launch on March 7, and Space.com’s Josh Dinner has a great piece on how the mission will serve as the relief crew for two beleaguered astronauts of Crew-9, whose 10-day mission turned into 9 months when their Boeing Starliner capsule returned to Earth without them. They’ll now return on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon capsule on March 16.
Our guide to SpaceX offers a good overview of the company, while our references on Crew Dragon and the Falcon 9 rocket can tell you more about those vehicles.