SpaceX launch creates ‘space jellyfish’ over Grand Isle, Southeast Louisiana
GRAND ISLE, La. (WAFB) - Talk about a grand view!
A resupply mission to the International Space Station gave Grand Isle a front-row seat to a glowing “space jellyfish” early Tuesday, part of a sky show seen across the Southeast.
Landon Braud, a high school teacher and coach from Ascension Parish, captured photos over Grand Isle just after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.
SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Dragon spacecraft, carrying more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and scientific equipment, is scheduled to reach the space station Thursday.
The pre-dawn liftoff created a signature “jellyfish cloud” also seen over the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn., and elsewhere across the southeastern and eastern United States.
The striking effect happens when a rocket’s exhaust plume expands rapidly in the thin upper atmosphere during a launch near dawn or dusk. At very high altitudes, vapor exhaust freezes into ice crystals. Because the sun is still below the horizon for observers on the ground, its light hits the high-altitude plume, illuminating the crystallized gases into a glowing, translucent bulb with wispy, tentacle-like trails against the dark sky.
The Associated Press contributed heavily to this report.
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