Fiery IgnitionMinutes after liftoff, one of NASA's LADEE moon mission late stages and lingering smoke plumes is captured in this stunning image taken from the Potomac River in Virginia.

LADEE launched at 11:27 p.m. EDT on Friday, September 6, from Pad 0B at the space agency's mid-Atlantic Wallops Flight Facility, located on Wallops Island off the coast of Virginia.

The spacecraft will enter orbit around the moon in 30 days and will begin studying the thin lunar atmosphere in unprecedented detail.