An Atlas V rocket carrying Mexico's next generation Morelos-3 satellite designed to provide advanced telecommunications was successfully launched Friday at the Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, giving spectators a unique show of light in the skies, according to Universe Today.
Though the Atlas V has been launched before, the rocket's exhaust plume on Friday was quite extraordinary, lighting up a low deck of clouds before shooting into the darkness. Col. Shannon Klug, commander of the Air Force's 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron, said that the rare light show was partly caused by the sun's angle at the time of launch.
"The sunrise highlighted the normal expansion of the exhaust plume which expands as the atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude. The rays of the sun caught the expanding gasses just right and... magic!" he said, according to NPR News.
The successful launch delivered Mexico's Morelos-3 to its geosynchronous transfer orbit of 2588 x 19323 nautical miles. It is the second of two telecommunications satellites that comprise the Mexsat communications satellite system for the Mexican government's Ministry of Communications and Transportation, which is designed to provide advanced telecommunications for education and health programs for rural communities in Mexico.
Check out more news about the Atlas V rocket here.
