![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/02\/260213_30second_goes19_16panel_Crew12_launch_anim.gif\")
<\/a>16-panel display of 30-second GOES-19 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands, from 1014-1020 UTC on 13 February [click to play animated GIF]<\/p><\/div>The NASA\/SpaceX Crew-12 Mission<\/strong><\/a> to the International Space Station was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1015 UTC on 13 February 2026 — and overlapping 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sectors<\/strong><\/a> from GOES-19 (GOES-East)<\/em>\u00a0provided 30-second images from all 16 ABI<\/strong><\/a> spectral bands (above)<\/strong><\/em>. Since this was a nighttime launch, varying shades of white signatures of the Falcon 9 rocket booster were seen in the Visible (02) and Near-Infrared (03-06) spectral bands as the rocket ascended to the northeast — while warmer rocket booster thermal signatures were apparent in many of the Infrared spectral bands (07-16) [10:17:25 UTC 16-panel images<\/strong><\/a>]. In addition, a cooler signature of the rocket’s condensation cloud was evident in many of the Infrared spectral bands, as that cloud drifted southeastward just offshore.<\/p>\n In spite of an oblique satellite viewing angle, many of the same Falcon 9 rocket booster signatures were seen in 1-minute GOES-18 (GOES-West)<\/em>\u00a0imagery (below)<\/strong><\/em> [1016 UTC 16-panel images<\/strong><\/a>]. (The 16-panel GOES-19 and GOES-18 images were displayed in their respective native satellite projections.)<\/p>\n 16-panel display of 1-minute GOES-18 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands, from 1014-1020 UTC on 13 February [click to play animated GIF]<\/p><\/div>A slightly longer animation of 30-second GOES-19 Nighttime Microphysics RGB<\/strong><\/a> images from the CSPP GeoSphere<\/strong><\/a> site (below)<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0showed the aforementioned rocket booster condensation cloud (darker shades of blue) drifting southeast just offshore — along with the hot thermal signature (darker purple pixel) of the rocket booster landing burn as it returned to the launch site at 1023 UTC<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n 30-second GOES-19 Nighttime Microphysics RGB images (with\/without a map overlay), from 1014-1023 UTC on 13 February [click to play animated GIF]<\/p><\/div>30-second GOES-19 Rocket Plume RGB<\/strong><\/a> images created using Geo2Grid<\/strong><\/a> (below)<\/em><\/strong> provided a larger-scale view of the rocket booster signature as the Falcon 9 traveled northeast away from the launch site.<\/p>\n 30-second GOES-19 Rocket Plume RGB images, from 1014-1020 UTC on 13 February [click to play animated GIF | MP4<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/div>A comparison of 1-minute Rocket Plume RGB images from both GOES-18 and GOES-19 (below)<\/strong><\/em> nicely demonstrated the effect of parallax<\/strong><\/a> — since the satellite viewing angle from GOES-18 was 68.98 degrees from the southwest (compared to only 33.56 degrees from the south-southeast from GOES-19), the apparent location of the high-altitude Rocket Plume RGB signature was displaced much farther to the east as viewed from GOES-18 (1018 UTC images<\/strong><\/a>). (The GOES-18\/GOES-19 Rocket Plume RGB images were re-mapped to a common projection.)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>