August 2024 Blue Supermoon Rises over the “Rocket City”

A supermoon rises over Huntsville, Alabama, home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Aug. 19. Visible through Wednesday, Aug. 21, the full Moon is both a supermoon and a Blue Moon. Supermoons are the biggest and brightest full Moons of the year because the Moon is within 90% of its closest point to Earth. While not blue in color, the third full Moon in a season with four full Moons is called a “Blue Moon.” Huntsville is known as the “Rocket City” because of its proximity to NASA Marshall, which manages vital propulsion systems and hardware, launch vehicles, engineering technologies, and cutting-edge science for the agency.