It's a miracle! NASA photographer's camera melts during Falcon 9 rocket launch but the stunning photos survived

Mr Ingalls' posted the photo of his camera to Facebook
Bill Ingalls/NASA/Cover Images
Sophie Williams25 May 2018

A NASA photographer's camera completely melted during a rocket launch but the pictures miraculously survived.

He shared images of the Canon camera on Facebook along with the photographs it managed to take before its demise.

The camera was placed a quarter of a mile away from the launch pad in order to get close-up shots of the Falcon 9's lift off - Mr Ingalls used a remote control to take the shots.

But the lens of the camera was left completely melted when a bush fire broke out after the launch.

Incredible images show the aftermath of the launch
Getty Images

Luckily for Mr Ingalls, the photos were recoverable and showed the rocket launch from close-up.

It also managed to capture the approach of the fire.

The camera took this picture before it caught fire
Bill Ingalls/NASA/Cover Images

The Falcon 9 rocket was carrying two NASA satellites into orbit that will observe climate change by looking at glacier sizes and water levels.

He wrote on Facebook that he had many other cameras located close to the launch pad.

The camera managed to photograph the oncoming fire
Bill Ingalls/NASA/Cover Images

Mr Ingalls added: "This was the result of a small brush fire, which is not unheard of from launches, and was extinguished by firemen [sic], albeit after my cam was baked."

The photographer, who has been taking shots for NASA since 1989, told Space.com that it was the first time that one of his cameras had melted during a launch.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasts off into space

1/16

Mr Ingalls' four other cameras were unharmed despite being closer to the launch pad.

He said the biggest worry a photographer has is usually debris from the launch.

The Grace FO mission launched from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base on 7.50pm GMT (3.47pm local time) on Tuesday.

The launch came as part of a joint mission by NASA and the German Centre of Geosciences.

The twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On satellites that are set to track changes to the world’s water flow were blasted into orbit 11 minutes after lift-off, SpaceX revealed.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT