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When SpaceX launched a rocket carrying an Argentinian Earth Observation satellite from California, the night sky and social media became enlightened.
People as far away as Phoenix and Sacramento have posted photos of the launch and return of the Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday night. It was the first time SpaceX had landed at the Vandenberg Air Force base, located approximately 209 km northwest of Los Angeles, on a first recall leg.
The Air Force warned residents on the central coast of California that they might see several engines down by the first floor and hear one or more sonic booms on their return.
But many were caught off guard when the launch lit up the sky, wondering what was the view of another world. Some have assumed that it was a comet or an alien plane.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying an Argentinean satellite takes off from the Vandenberg airbase launch site. Image: AP
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"Something has exploded in the sky west of Phoenix," Laura Gadbery wrote on Twitter. "Someone catches or knows what it was?"
Lloyd Lawrence, another Phoenix user, located more than 853 km from the launch site, said that he was driving on Interstate 10 when he saw the launch and that he could not "believe my eyes".
"I was wondering who was holding the gigantic flashlight in the sky," he wrote.
Californians from Los Angeles to Sacramento – more than 547 kilometers from the launch site – also showed their confusion.
The Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, was among those who were trying to clear the assumptions, tweeting a photo of the launch and writing, "No, this is really not extraterrestrials."
No, certainly not extraterrestrials.
What you are looking at is the first launch and landing of the @SpaceX Rocket Falcon 9 on the west coast. The rocket took off from the Vandenberg Air Base at 19:21. and landed safely on Earth. ? pic.twitter.com/8AKjGptpps
– Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) October 8, 2018
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The main objective of the SpaceX mission was to place the SAOCOM 1A satellite into orbit, but SpaceX also wanted to extend the recovery of the first steps to its Vandenberg launch site.
SpaceX had already stolen first-stage rockets after launching Florida, but had not done so on the west coast.
SpaceX also landed on Falcon 9 on the first drones off the coast of Florida and California, with the goal of reducing the cost of space launches by reusing rockets instead of dropping them into the ocean.
Social media captured this beautiful photo of Milpitas in Santa Clara County, California. Image: Reuters
The night sky lights over Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at launch. Image: AP
The satellite is the first of two of the Argentinian Space Agency, the Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, and will work together with a constellation of satellites from Italian space agencies. Its acronym is the abbreviation of Satelite Argentino from Observacion Con Microondas.
SAOCOM 1A features a high resolution instrument called Synthetic Aperture Radar that will be used for emergency management in disasters and for land monitoring. The second satellite will be SAOCOM 1B.
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