On the early morning of January 23rd, 2021, the Dragon 9 – Crew 2 lifted itself up from Cape Canaveral to the Space Station.
With no sun to worry about, the coolness of the night showed itself in the form of a light haze. This was the umptieth launch that I was watching from the place that I called home for the last 30 years.
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It was about 100 miles from the launch site, but I knew it would be worthwhile, as I would be able to follow its trajectory for about 10 minutes. Like always, I watched the launch life online first and moved outside after a few minutes, just in time to see the rocket rise above the treeline at the predicted location.
I immediately saw, this would be a special occasion, with the Dragon capsule with second stage and the first stage each producing a lightshow during this dark and hazy night.
The directional landing rockets of the first stage created an eerie, pulsating glow in the sky, that I was unfamiliar with.
Enjoy this short video.