Falcon 9 Launch Gallery; 'Fantastic Day,' P–G Singularity and More

By Nancy Atkinson - June 04, 2010 07:24 PM UTC | Space Exploration

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Universe Today photographer Alan Walters was on hand for Friday's spectacular and picture-perfect launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Enjoy a gallery of images, including this great shot of a Prandtl–Glauert singularity, or shock cone that formed around the rocket, which sometimes occurs when a sudden drop in air pressure occurs when rockets or aircraft are traveling at transonic speeds.

"This has really been a fantastic

day

," said an exuberant Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, speaking with reporters after the flight. "It's been one of the best days of my life. It's certainly been one of the greatest days for the people of SpaceX."

[caption id="attachment_65842" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="Falcon 9 launch on June 4, 2010. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today. "]

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[caption id="attachment_65843" align="aligncenter" width="512" caption="Falcon 9 launch on June 4, 2010. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today. "]

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[caption id="attachment_65844" align="aligncenter" width="477" caption="Falcon 9 launch on June 4, 2010. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today. "]

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[caption id="attachment_65845" align="aligncenter" width="567" caption="Falcon 9 launch on June 4, 2010. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today. "]

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[caption id="attachment_65924" align="aligncenter" width="406" caption="Falcon 9 launch on June 4, 2010. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today."]

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[caption id="attachment_65846" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Falcon 9 pre-launch on June 4, 2010. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today. "]

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com