See lightning zap a Russian Soyuz rocket during launch
As if a rocket launch wasn't exciting enough already.
This Soyuz launch vehicle was struck by lightning on its way into space.
It's common for rocket launches to get scrubbed due to even slightly funky weather, but Russian space agency Roscosmos went ahead with a Soyuz rocket launch on Monday that attracted some serious fireworks.
Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin posted video of the launch to his Twitter account and praised the teams behind the project. The footage shows a dramatic bolt of lightning striking the vehicle as it soars through the air.
Поздравляем командование Космических войск, боевой расчёт космодрома Плесецк, коллективы РКЦ "Прогресс" (Самара), НПО имени С.А.Лавочкина (Химки) и ИСС имени академика М.Ф.Решетнёва (Железногорск) с успешным запуском КА ГЛОНАСС!
— Дмитрий Рогозин (@Rogozin) May 27, 2019
Молния вам не помеха pic.twitter.com/1cmlZ4hD1g
The Soyuz took off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia and safely delivered a Glonass navigation satellite into orbit. The lightning strike didn't faze it.
Roscosmos shared a closer look at the initial launch to Twitter. It shows all the fire and fury of takeoff from several different angles, but not the lightning strike that happened later.
Видео пуска ракеты-носителя «Союз-2.1б» с космодрома Плесецк 🚀
— РОСКОСМОС (@roscosmos) May 27, 2019
В расчетное время аппарат «Глонасс-М» был выведен на целевую орбиту разгонным блоком «Фрегат» и принят на управление наземными средствами Космических войск ВКС. pic.twitter.com/dkZ0CAjY1A
NASA's Apollo 12 mission in 1969 experienced a similar jolt when the Saturn V was hit by lightning during launch, but the crew was able to recover and complete the journey to the moon and back.
