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image credit & copyright: John Kraus



a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch dazzled viewers along the U.S. west coast after sunset on october 7, 2018

rising from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, planet Earth, the Falcon 9's first stage then returned to a landing zone some 400 meters from the launch site less than 8 minutes after liftoff

both launch and first stage landing (left) are captured in the frame of this two image stack, recorded by a stationary, sound-activated camera set up on a nearby hill

this Falcon 9 rocket delivered its payload, an Earth-observing satellite developed by Argentina's national space agency, to low Earth orbit

of course, the Falcon 9 first stage had flown before, following a launch from Vandenberg on july 25, 2018, it was recovered after landing on the autonomous drone ship Just Read the Instructions




































in apod.nasa.gov/apod