World Class View
Passengers on board a United Airlines commercial jet flying over Florida’s Cape Canaveral were able to spot an amazingly rare sight in the distance: a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, far below.
The video , shared by NBC photojournalist Nick Leimbach, shows the tiny white rocket blasting off and gaining altitude at a dazzling rate, leaving behind a massive cloud of dust and vapor — an angle that puts the incredible spectacle into perspective.
“One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” Leimbach wrote.
Right Time, Right Place
The flight took off from Dulles International airport in Washington, DC at 12:25 pm and landed roughly 3.5 hours later in George Town in the Cayman Islands.
Its flight path perfectly crossed NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, at just the right moment. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Launch Complex 39A at 2:20 pm local time, with an uncrewed Dragon spacecraft in tow, carrying supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
Among the supplies is the Moon Microscope, a tiny device meant to allow astronauts to collect blood samples and analyze them with a hand-held device. The goal is to provide future astronauts with a tool to diagnose blood samples on the surface of the Moon or Mars.
It’s not everyday passengers on a commercial airliner are able to behold such an amazing sight. Though given Leimbach’s profession, there’s a good chance it wasn’t entirely a coincidence he was at the right place at the right time.
More on SpaceX: Twitter Claims Video of Moon Rocket Launch Is Revenge Porn