A SpaceX rocket launch left an impressive sight over central and eastern North Carolina Thursday morning.
The launch window opened at 5:05 a.m., and the rocket lifted off on time at 5:25 a.m.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Shortly after the launch, dozens of people across North Carolina sent us their photos capturing the rocket's impressive vapor trail. Check it out:
As the rocket launched east from Florida, people along the East Coast were able to catch a glimpse of its vapor trail just above the horizon.
The sun rises earlier to the east. With the sun below our horizon, its beams are low enough and spread wide enough to illuminate the vapor trail.
Our sunrise was at 6:07 a.m.
Our WRAL Breaking News Tracker was able to spot the Falcon 9 rocket flying toward low Earth orbit above downtown Raleigh at sunrise:
The SpaceX mission was a success, marking a record-breaking 36th flight for the reusable first-stage booster used on this mission. The SpaceX rocket deployed 29 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit roughly an hour after liftoff.
If you saw the launch, let us know with your pictures and/or videos!