Longboat resident captures launch on film

At around 6:40 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17, Longboat Key resident Mary Lou Johnson spotted a strange stream of light in the sky and thought that it was a jet stream. Upon further research, she discovered that this stream was from the GPS 2R-21 navigation satellite for the U.S. military, which was launched by a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 booster from Cape Canaveral. It was scheduled to launch between 6:35 and 6:49 a.m.

By coincidence, Johnson had her camera with her and was able to capture the event on film.

“It was just incredible and brilliant,” Johnson said. “I saw it for five minutes.”    

For more information, visit http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/launch_
schedule.html.

Photos by Mary Lou Johnson.