WASHINGTON – Early Tuesday morning, people across the Washington DC area were treated to a spectacular view of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
The rocket successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:23 a.m. ET.
The first mission of the Polaris program, Polaris Dawn, has four private astronauts on board.
The multi-day mission will include the first commercial spacewalk in a next-generation spacesuit and aims to reach the highest altitude since Apollo.
Polaris Dawn Live Updates: SpaceX to Send Four Private Astronauts on Historic Spacewalk Tuesday Morning
FOX 5 viewers in parts of Maryland and Virginia sent the newsroom videos and images of a rocket racing through the sky, leaving widespread contrails behind it.
A viewer north of Urbana, Maryland, sent FOX 5 pictures and said he was taking out his trash when he caught a glimpse of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn spacecraft lighting up the sky.
A viewer from north of Urbana, Maryland, sent FOX 5 pictures and said he was taking out his trash when he saw the spacecraft lighting up the sky.
A video taken by a viewer in Fairfax City, Virginia, showed the rocket racing across the night sky.
After completing the journey, which will last up to five days, the Polaris Dawn team will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of Florida.