That is one speedy streaker caught flying to space.
A climate satellite captured NASA’s Artemis 1 mission within the moments after it lifted off for the moon on Wednesday (Nov. 16). Though the launch blasted off a pad in Florida at 1:47 a.m. EST (0647 GMT) in total darkness, the water plume of the Space Launch System was seen within the view of the GOES East satellite.
“You’ll be able to see the rocket streaking by the ambiance on this water vapor imagery,” the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which operates GOES East, mentioned in a tweet (opens in new tab).
GOES East’s mid-level water vapor band is often used for winds within the lowest layer of the ambiance, often known as the troposphere, together with jet streams, producing hurricane and storm movement predictions and estimating moisture, in keeping with a NOAA backgrounder page (opens in new tab).
Associated: Artemis 1 launch photos: Amazing views of NASA’s moon rocket debut (gallery)
.@NOAA’s #GOESEast satellite captured the early morning launch of NASA’s #Artemis I from @NASAKennedy in Florida! You’ll be able to see the rocket streaking by the ambiance on this water vapor imagery. https://t.co/8EN9KfWliM pic.twitter.com/lybvk01si4November 16, 2022
Artemis 1 has additionally been producing imagery from space by itself, with the primary lower-resolution images beaming again already within the hours after launch. Components of the Orion spacecraft are seen in these first-look views, together with the curve of the Earth within the background.
Photos from floor, Earth’s ambiance and space will all be utilized in assessing the engineering success of Artemis 1. The flight is an uncrewed debut effort inside NASA’s bigger Artemis program, which goals to place folks on the moon in mid-decade on the earliest.
Subsequent up, assuming Artemis 1 goes to plan, is the Artemis 2 crewed mission that may loop across the moon no sooner than 2024, and the Artemis 3 touchdown mission set thus far for 2025 or 2026.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a ebook about space drugs. Comply with her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
