// Home // Space
Subscribe to RSS RSS Feed
Stunning Photos Of Saturday's Mysterious Rocket Launch
Kelsey D. Atherton
at 11:02 AM Jun 15 2016
0 Comments
Smoke Trail
Copyright Kyle Brown, used with permission
Space // 

Last weekend, a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket hurtled a mysterious payload into orbit. The classified cargo, delivered on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office, is possibly a spy satellite, though we may not know for years or more what it actually was. What we can do is bask in the beauty of a rocket hurtling an enigma into orbit.

 
 

Read about the project's weird logo, watch Saturday's launch, and enjoy the photos below:

 
 
Waiting In Daylight
Copyright Kyle Brown, used with permission
"The Delta IV Heavy is capable of placing a payload of 6,750 kilograms (14,900 lb) directly into geosynchronous orbit," says NASA, "or upwards of 14,000 kg (31,000 lb) into a geosynchronous transfer orbit."
 
 
Blastoff
Copyright Kyle Brown, used with permission
This is what 2,950 kilonewtons of thrust looks like.
 
 
In Air
Copyright Kyle Brown, used with permission
Casual reminder that putting stuff on rockets and hurtling them into space is something humans do regularly now.
 
 
Smoke Trail
Copyright Kyle Brown, used with permission
One sudden cloud, made by a machine built my humans, marks a pathway to the stars.
comments powered by Disqus
Sign up for the Pop Sci newsletter
Australian Popular Science
ON SALE 01 FEBRUARY
Australian Popular Science
PopSci Live