Striking Lightning Display Highlights Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building

A captivating photograph showcasing a powerful lightning storm illuminating the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center has been selected as this week’s featured image. The stunning visual, captured by photographer Craig Bailey, also provided an unexpected reason for a delay in Monday’s planned Falcon 9 launch.

Photographer Malcolm Denemark initially shared plans for the week’s images with editors early Monday morning at 4:53 a.m., noting successful photos of the SpaceX liftoff. However, he specifically drew attention to Bailey’s remarkable lightning image as being particularly compelling and worthy of prominent display. The storm itself prompted an operational pause while officials assessed its impact on launch readiness.

Bailey explained that he was positioned at the blockhouse awaiting improved weather conditions for the Falcon 9 mission when a series of cloud-to-cloud lightning strikes, often referred to as “crawlers” due to their apparent movement, began to dissipate following a period of rainfall. Utilizing a camera equipped with a lightning detector, Bailey captured the scene over a long exposure of approximately one-tenth of a second.

The resulting photograph vividly demonstrates the raw force of nature juxtaposed against the backdrop of Kennedy Space Center’s most recognizable structure, the VAB – where stages for rockets are assembled.