‘Fireball’ lights up early morning skies in Virginia, photos show. What was it?
When a mysterious fireball lit up the early morning Virginia sky on Monday, Nov. 7, the powerful object caught the attention of those below.
Photos soon flooded the internet of the glowing orb, but the mystery didn’t last long. NASA announced it had launched a spacecraft off the Virginia coast — and it had a special name.
The S.S. Sally Ride spacecraft launched at 5:32 a.m. from the Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, NASA said. The rocket was named after the first American woman to ever go to space.
“This was over my neighborhood,” one viewer told WRAL. “It seemed to be moving quick with a burning ball in front of it.”
The spacecraft will carry supplies to the International Space Station, according to NASA.
Even though it launched in Virginia, people could spot the rocket’s brilliant path through the morning sky from parts of South Carolina all the way to Massachusetts, according to the trajectory map provided by NASA.
“Woke up to my whole house shaken,” one person said on Twitter. “I need to keep up with these launches.”
Later on the morning of Nov. 7, NASA announced that the S.S. Sally Ride had successfully launched and was heading toward the space station full of “science and snacks,” including pumpkin spice cappuccinos and fresh fruit.
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 12:33 PM with the headline "‘Fireball’ lights up early morning skies in Virginia, photos show. What was it?."
