On October 7, 2018, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the SAOCOM-1A radar imagery satellite, creating a spectacular plume in the California skies. The first stage of the rocket also made a landmark landing soon after. See the pictures here.
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What a view
On October 7, 2018, photographer Joaquin Baldwin captured this spectacular image of the successful launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The sequence on the top right corresponds to the first floor of the Falcon 9 which returns to Earth.
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Simply extraordinary
Two floors of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket are separating inside a glowing plume shortly after takeoff from the rocket of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California late Sunday night (October 7). After the separation, the second stage of the rocket continued to hoist the SAOCOM-1A satellite into orbit, while the first leg returned to Earth for a historic first landing on the west coast of the United States. Photographer Sheila Hoffos captured this view of the launch from Simi Valley, California, about 190 km southeast of Vandenberg.
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Rainbow of light
This SpaceX image shows the successful launch (and landing) of the Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to orbit the SAOCOM-1A Earth Observation Satellite of Argentina . It was SpaceX's first mission to place a Falcon 9 booster on a pad in Vandenberg.
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The complete flight
This photo shows the entire SpaceX action of October 7, 2018: a Falcon 9 rocket launching the SAOCOM-1A satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California; the plume created by the take-off; and the first leg of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg (small orange arc on the right).
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Dazzling feather
Skywatcher Doug Macmillan captured this image of the plume created by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched Argentina's SAOCOM-1A radar imagery satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on October 7, 2018. Macmillan was in the Del Cerro Park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, which is near Los Angeles.
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This is not a nebula
A feather created by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched the SAOCOM-1A satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on October 7, 2018. The two-stage rocket separated by this point and the two stages are visible in this photo .
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ascent
On October 7, 2018, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the SAOCOM-1A satellite rises above Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, California.
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One at the top, one at the bottom
This stunning view shows the upward trajectory of the two-story SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched Argentina's SAOCOM-1A radar imagery satellite from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on October 7, 2018. (left), as well as the descending trajectory of the first stage of the booster, which touched his landing at Vandenberg less than 8 minutes after takeoff (right).
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Stay on target!
The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made history with this landing in Vandenberg Air Force Station Landing Zone 4, California, on October 7, 2018. The touchdown marked the first landing of a Falcon 9 rocket on the west coast of SpaceX.
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Landing!
A first step of the SpaceX Falcon 9 is at the top of Landing Zone 4 after successfully landing on the platform on October 7, 2018 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was the very first SpaceX landing on the west coast.
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Landing zone 4
Aerial view of the latest SpaceX rocket landing site, Landing Zone 4, near its west coast launch pad, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. SpaceX will attempt the first landing on the site on October 7, 2018. This will be SpaceX's first landfall on the west coast.
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SpaceX Landing Zone 4
Take a look at Landing Zone 4, the newest SpaceX rocket landing site, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches the SAOCOM-1A
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the SAOCOM-1A Earth Observation satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on October 7, 2018.