Edinburgh woman spots Space X rocket over her home as it headed out of this world

An Edinburgh woman was lucky enough to spot the Space X NASA rocket as it soared across the city sky last night.

Katie White, from Silverknows, capture the craft as it headed into orbit on its journey to the International Space Station. The launch in Florida began at exactly 8.22pm UK time, taking around 15-20 minutes before it became visible over the capital.

Although small, Katie's images show the small white craft as it moved eastwards, with clear blue skies creating the perfect conditions to try and spot it rather than Edinburgh's usual heavy cloud.

The rocket passed over Edinburgh at around 8.28pm carrying astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley in the Crew Dragon craft. The flight made history on Saturday after it was the first launch into space from US soil in 9 years.

Katie told Edinburgh Live : "The pictures don't do it justice from what we saw flying above us!"

The rocket was also spotted by other onlookers across Scotland, with one woman from Lanarkshire capturing a stunning image of the craft streamlining across the sky.

White trails of smoke can be seen coming out the back of the spacecraft (The Daily Record)

Heidi Strickland managed to capture what appears to be the Crew Dragon in the skies above her home in Douglas. The photos appear to show trails of smoke coming out the back as the rocket made its ascent into space.

Speaking to The Daily Record, she said: "My kids and I were looking out for it since it was launched.

"We watched it live and heard that the rocket might be visible from Scotland. The kids were so excited when it appeared."

Shortly after lift off, the craft successfully split into two different parts, with the first falling back to Earth and landing perfectly onto NASA's docking ship in the ocean. The second section carrying Behnken and Hurley then carried on into space, and is due to dock at the International Space Station at around 3.29pm this afternoon.

Millions across the world watched NASA's live stream of the launch (NASA)

The astronauts will then have to wait a further 2.5 hours in the rocket before the hatches open and they can move into the station after an almost 24 hour journey.

The point of the mission is to test the Crew Dragon craft and check its displays, controls and ability to manouvre. This test will be the final step to allow the project to be certified and accredited by NASA, which will hope to allow more long term and manned missions in the future.