Rocket launches aren’t an everyday spectacle.
Very few folks aside from scientists and agency personnel – as well as those who travel specifically to watch – get a chance to witness the awe-inspiring sight of a rocket ascending from Earth’s surface with all its power.
Enter Edgardo German, a fortunate pilot who had the extraordinary opportunity to witness the Falcon 9 launch not from the ground, but from way up high, seated in the cockpit of his plane.
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The stunning video was filmed as the aircraft soared at FL340 – flight level 340 (34,000 feet) to non-pilots out there – with the starry night above and the twinkling city lights below.
Suddenly, disrupting the journey to their destination, the unmistakable sight of a rocket hurtling into the expansive sky grabbed their attention.
From the cockpit, the Falcon 9 appeared akin to a colossal meteor, but in reverse – ascending from the Earth rather than descending.
It was undeniably a once-in-a-lifetime experience that Edgardo German not only captured permanently into his own memory, but also captured on camera for enthusiasts of space, technology, and aviation alike.
Let’s talk a bit about Falcon 9, the rocket we just witnessed ascending into the sky.
Falcon 9 – crafted by Elon Musk’s SpaceX – is a remarkable spacecraft renowned for its versatility.
Designed to ferry payloads and astronauts into space, it boasts partial reusability, a groundbreaking feature enabling certain components to be reused for subsequent missions.
Noteworthy achievements of the rocket have included delivering cargo to the International Space Station and pioneering crewed missions, marking it as the sole American rocket endorsed for transporting astronauts to the space station.
Distinguished by its exceptional safety record, Falcon 9 stands as a beacon of reliability in space exploration, having encountered relatively few setbacks in its history to date.
Watching this legendary space explorer pacing off from the ground to the vast sky is truly a sight that we’re glad Edgardo didn’t just watch himself, because he made it possible for us to witness it, too.
