NASA’s space shuttle Discovery lights up the dark skies above Daytona
Beach, Florida during a Saturday night launch
NASA’s space shuttle Discovery lights
up the dark skies above Daytona Beach, Florida during a Saturday
night launch.
Discovery shot into space
on Dec. 9 at 8:47:35 p.m. EST (0147:35 Dec. 10 GMT) to mark NASA’s first night
launch in four years [image].
Aboard the spacecraft, seven astronauts
prepared for a 12-day
mission to the International
Space Station (ISS).
Photographer Nigel Cook, of
the Daytona Beach News-Journal, caught this view of Discovery as it
soared into orbit and lit up Florida’s night skies. The image was later
released by the Associated Press.
The launch was expected to
be visible to keen-eyed viewers all along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.
Discovery’s
STS-116 crew is expected to dock today at the ISS. Docking is set for about
5:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT).
NASA is broadcasting the
shuttle Discovery’s mission to the International Space Station live on NASA TV.
You are invited to follow along with the STS-116 and Expedition 14 crews using SPACE.com’s NASA
TV feed, which is available by clicking here.
-- Tariq Malik
Credit: AP Photo/Daytona Beach
News-Journal, Nigel Cook.
Return each weekday for a new SPACE.com Image of the Day.
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