Gallery: Dragon/Falcon 9 Launch and Recovery Photos, Videos

By Nancy Atkinson - December 09, 2010 05:42 AM UTC | Space Exploration

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Enjoy a few glimpses at history from the Dec. 8 launch of Falcon 9 and Dragon.

[caption id="attachment_81567" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Falcon 9 launch with Dragon. Credit: SpaceX"]

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[caption id="attachment_81557" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket at 10:43 a.m. EDT. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today."]

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[caption id="attachment_81560" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today."]

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Here is video from a camera on Dragon while in orbit.

[caption id="attachment_81568" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="Dragon descends via parachute. Credit: SpaceX"]

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[caption id="attachment_81569" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Dragon recovery. Credit: SpaceX"]

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And for good measure, here's the launch video again:

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden's statement on the success of the launch:

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