What Starship Launch Looked Like From Space, NASA Astronaut’s Pic Reveals

NASA astronaut Don Pettit has shared a picture of Starship launch which he took from the International Space Station (ISS). Taking to social media, he posted the world’s biggest rocket taking off leaving behind a thick trail of smoke in its wake.

The picture features a white wisp of smoke from Starship’s Super Heavy booster after it lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas on November 20. The 400-feet-tall rocket itself is difficult to spot in the picture considering Pettit was about 400 km above Earth when the rocket launched.

“Starship launch from ISS. We happened to be overhead!” the astronaut captioned his post.

Apart from Pettit, Earth-imaging company Sen also posted a video of Starship’s incredible launch captured by its 4K camera mounted on the space station. Sen’s camera too filmed the rocket plumes after the launch next to the Gulf of Mexico.

“Congratulations SpaceX on the incredible sixth test flight of Starship. We captured the launch plume live from our cameras on the Space Station,” it posted on X.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX Successfully Launches Starship But Didn’t Catch The Booster This Time; Here’s Why

The recent flight was the sixth for Starship. It ended with the Booster’s splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico as SpaceX aborted the catch attempt using the launch tower. The company said later that the automated systems on the tower triggered an abort command after health checks.

The second stage also made a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean after igniting one of its raptor engines in space for the first time.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reportedly wants to launch 25 Starship missions next year. These missions will include catching the Booster and most likely the upper stage as well. In-orbit refuelling of the rocket for future missions to the Moon and Mars is also something SpaceX needs to learn during the test flights.

ALSO SEE: Space Camera Films Footage Of Giant Starship Rocket Launching To Space

(Image: X/@astro_pettit)

By International Space Station, Post, Science, Space, SpaceX, Starship