NASA's latest rocket launch, seen through an infrared lens.
Saturday, September 21, 2013, 12:44 PM -
This is a darkly beautiful shot of last week's Antares rocket launch, from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia:
Despite how dark it is, the launch actually took place at around 11 a.m. in the morning on Wednesday, Sept. 18 - it looks like it's at night because the camera was modified to shoot in the infrared spectrum.
To give you an idea of what a huge difference that makes, here's what the launch looked like when viewed with a normal camera:
Most people are used to the idea of NASA rockets launching from the storied Cape Canaveral in Florida, but Wallops Island has been growing in importance for several years.
The Antares rocket launched on Wednesday contains a Cygnus cargo capsule, carrying almost 600 kg of supplies destined for the International Space Station.
NASA expects it to arrive on Sunday.