On Oct. 28, 2014, the Aerospace manufacturer company Orbital ATK was scheduled to transport 5,000 pounds of cargo inside of an unmanned Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Cygnus was strapped to an Antares rocket that exploded seconds after lift off from a launch pad in Virginia.
Photographer Joel Kowsky caught the whole thing on camera, snapping some incredible photos that NASA recently released on Flickr. Check them out below. They're a humble reminder of just how dangerous space can be.