Distant views taken from the front yard of a Delta 2 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System satellite, GPS 2R-21, into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:35 a.m. on 17 August 2009. This is the last GPS satellite to be carried on a Delta 2 rocket since the next generation of GPS satellites will be larger and heavier requiring larger and more powerful rockets to carry them into orbit. The images show the ever changing illumination as the rocket rises into the light from the rising Sun just under the horizon. The bottom two images show the exhaust plume expanding out as the rocket climbs into the thin air of the upper atmosphere.
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