At 5:15 a.m. ET Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 − a Friday the 13th − four crew members from three space agencies, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12, launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Liftoff was seen far beyond the launch pad.
Nearly two hours before sunrise, Crew-12 embarked on its 34-hour journey to the International Space Station by launching aboard the Dragon Freedom spacecraft from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, located about an hour east of Orlando, Florida.
«We were blessed with really good launch-site weather this morning and really good weather down the ascent track, which we were monitoring all week. And we finally found the right day to launch — on Friday the 13th,» Steve Stich, who manages NASA Commercial Crew Program, said during a post-launch news conference.
«I understand this is the first time NASA’s ever launched on Friday the 13th. So, pretty amazing times,» Stich said.
Though rockets here launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, people far beyond the launch pad can sometimes see this phenomenon.
Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover and trajectory, a rocket launch from Florida’s Space Coast could be visible as far north as Jacksonville Beach and as far south as West Palm Beach.
In this case, the NASA SpaceX Crew-12 launch was spotted in other states.
When there’s a launch window in the middle of the night or very early morning, there’s an opportunity for unique photos — the rocket lights up the dark sky, and the contrail after makes for a great photo.