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Elon Musk's SpaceX Rocket Could Be Visible Over The UK Tonight

Elon Musk's SpaceX Rocket Could Be Visible Over The UK Tonight

They're blasting two astronauts into space, and you could catch them whizzing past

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

If you - like so many of us - have got nothing planned for this evening, why not have a gaze up at the skies? You might just see something pretty amazing up there.

Instead of seeing Elon Musk's expensive - and controversial - Starlink satellite chain, or a lovely meteor shower, tonight you could see an actual rocket carrying several spacemen on their journey to the stars.

Yes, over the UK tonight you might be able to catch a quick glimpse of one of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets cutting a swathe through the firmament. Yes, it's that guy Musk again.

The Demo-2 mission will see experienced NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley strapped in and shot into the sky above Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4.33pm EDT, or about 9.33pm over here.

Here's a closer look at the rocket than you'll be getting.
PA

Remarkably, around 15 minutes later between 9.45pm and 9.50pm , we could catch a look at the distant rocket as it forges a path over the UK.

According to MeteorWatch, the pass will be from a westerly direction and - if the weather and light allow - it might be visible in the southern part of the sky for three or four minutes.

The site wrote: "As the Spacecraft passes over the UK, we may see just the one or a collection of objects looking like bright stars moving across the sky.

"The sky will be fairly light for some especially for observers in places in the north such as Scotland. The craft should be bright enough to follow once you catch a glimpse of it."

The craft itself is a pretty incredible feat of engineering, to be fair.

It comes in two parts: one that provides the power for lift off, and a second that houses our two intrepid space explorers.

It lifts off at around 9:30PM tonight, and could be visible in the UK 15 minutes later.
PA

After take-off, the first part will separate and return of its own accord, to a landing ship in the sea off Florida, which is impressive enough.

Then, the second part will continue the journey on into orbit, where it will eventually dock with the International Space Station 24 hours later on.

The second part - called the Crew Dragon craft - will be tested for environmental control, manoeuvring thrusters, and displays and controls.

This Demo-2 mission is a way of SpaceX showing that it can safely take astronauts to the International Space Station, and get them back in one piece.

It represents the final step on SpaceX's journey to being certified by NASA's Commercial Crew programme for longer term missions to space with humans.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News, Interesting, Technology