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The best photos and videos of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch

The best photos and videos of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch

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An event worth watching again and again

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After years of waiting and months of delays, SpaceX finally launched the Falcon Heavy rocket into the skies of Florida yesterday. The launch was mostly a success, though the rocket’s center core booster was lost.

Overnight, SpaceX published some of its own images of the rocket’s ascent and of the seemingly synchronized landing of the two side boosters at Cape Canaveral. But there was a glut of professional, semi-professional, and amateur photographers on the grounds and at the nearby beaches, all capturing their own unique perspectives of the historic launch. To top it all off, a few lucky sky-gazers in California even caught a glimpse of the Falcon Heavy’s upper stage performing its final burn, hours after takeoff, putting the infamous Tesla Roadster on a course that will bring it as far out as the asteroid belt.

We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite photos below, but many of these photographers have made work available on their own personal sites. Be sure to put some headphones on for the one at the bottom from Smarter Every Day, who filmed the launch and landing with binaural 3D audio. And if you’ve seen any others you like — or took some yourself! — be sure to post them in the comments.

Photo: SpaceX
Photo: SpaceX
Photo: SpaceX
Photo: SpaceX
Photo: SpaceX
Photo: SpaceX