SpaceX Rocket Leaves Glowing 'Jellyfish' in Morning Sky

The sight may have surprised many people, but Space.com said it was not dangerous. According to NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the glow appeared when sunlight hit the rocket's exhaust plume, the trail of gas that comes out of its engines. As a rocket rises, its engines release water vapour and carbon dioxide. In the cold upper atmosphere, these gases quickly freeze into ice crystals that stream out behind it. When a launch happens around dawn or dusk, sunlight can reach this high cloud while the ground below is still dark. The effect is often linked to Falcon 9 launches, which SpaceX carries out every two to three days from Florida and California.

The launch began SpaceX's 35th cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The mission is called CRS-35. The Dragon capsule is carrying thousands of pounds of supplies, and such deliveries usually include food, clothing, medical supplies and science experiments. Fox Weather said the journey would take 52 hours, while Space.com reported that the capsule was due to dock with the station's Harmony module at about 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Thursday, 15 October. The mission is expected to finish in November.