Tuesday morning’s launch of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission from Florida marked a spectacular sight as the Falcon 9 rocket carried the Dragon capsule “Resilience” into orbit.
The sight above the area around 5:30 a.m. left some onlookers puzzled and joking that it was aliens.
The launch was visible across the East Coast, according to SpaceX and reports.
Polaris Dawn was flying by as it embarked a trip to reach an altitude of 870 miles, which would surpass the record set during NASA’s Project Gemini in 1966.
The mission will position the crew further from Earth than any other humans since the 24 Apollo astronauts who traveled to the moon, according to the Space.com.
The crew, which features billionaire and repeat space traveler Jared Isaacman, is set to spend five days in outer space.
Isaacman, who is also the founder of company Shift4, has bought three missions from SpaceX as part of the Polaris Program, which looks to push the boundaries of human spaceflight.
On its journey, the spaceship will spend 10 hours at its peak altitude, navigating through areas of extreme radiation and space debris, before lowering its orbit to approximately 435 miles.
A high-profile spacewalk is scheduled for Thursday.
During the spacewalk, the entire Dragon capsule will be depressurized for two hours, exposing the crew to the harsh vacuum of space while they wear SpaceX’s latest spacewalking suits, according to reports.
Tuesday’s mission is not the first SpaceX flight visible from the East Coast. An earlier launch this summer also captured the attention of early risers.
