Last night a rocket named Minotaur 1 launched from a Virginia spaceport into the sky over the Eastern seaboard and it. Was. Glorious. The rocket was on a record-breaking mission to put 29 satellites into orbit and, less importantly and not at all acknowledged by NASA, on a mission to dazzle New Yorkers by lighting up the night sky. Missions: accomplished.
According to Space.com, "Tuesday's rocket launch was orchestrated by the U.S. military's Operationally Responsive Space Office and was aimed primarily at launching the U.S. Air Force's $55 million STPSat-3 satellite, which is carrying five experiments and sensors to measure the space environment. The 28 other tiny cubesat satellites included TJ3Sat, the first-ever satellite designed and built by high school students, and NASA's new PhoneSat 2.4, a satellite built from smartphone components."
Click through for a look at some shots of it over the city, and if you spotted it's blaze of glory and captured a photo, send it along.
Video by Steve Hernandez
