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SpaceX launches cargo ship to space station in spectacular pre-dawn flight

The cargo mission carries more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and experiments, including the final pair of ISS solar arrays.

  • On Tuesday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:33 a.m., sending the CRS-35 Cargo Dragon toward the International Space Station while sunlight illuminated its high-altitude exhaust, creating a striking 'space jellyfish' effect visible across the Southeast.
  • The 'space jellyfish' phenomenon occurs when pre-dawn sunlight illuminates rocket exhaust plumes 50–70 miles above Earth, where water vapor and carbon dioxide freeze into ice crystals, according to meteorologists. This twilight effect is visible only during launches near sunrise or sunset.
  • Cargo Dragon is delivering over 6,300 pounds of supplies and scientific equipment, including hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity and the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays to complete the station's power system upgrade.
  • Following the launch, the spacecraft began a 52-hour transit to the station, with NASA officials scheduling autonomous docking to the Harmony module on Thursday at around 11 a.m. The Dragon will remain docked for approximately one month.
  • NASA plans to apply these power system upgrades to future deep-space exploration missions, with technology versions of the solar arrays slated to help power the Space Reactor 1 Freedom when it launches in 2028, advancing lunar and interplanetary capabilities.
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A long incandescent trail crosses the Florida sky at the first light of dawn, leaving behind a spectacular luminous tail. The images, taken on October 13 from the coast of Ormond Beach, actually show the launch of the Falcon 9 of SpaceX, taken off by Cape Canaveral. The rocket brought into orbit the Dragon capsule, directed to the International Space Station with over 2.8 tons of supplies, new solar panels and instruments for scientific experime…

·Turin, Italy
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The phenomenon is only observed in launches that take place before sunrise or after sunset, researchers explained. The post SpaceX launch formed a giant jellyfish in the sky appeared first on in.gr.

·Greece
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Florida Today broke the news in Melbourne, United States on Monday, October 12, 2026.
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