Emily Lakdawalla • Jul 19, 2013
Pretty picture: An Atlas launch and a very surprised bird
If you take hundreds of photos of every single spacecraft launch you can get to, you will eventually get lucky shots like this one. It was taken by Ben Cooper at today's launch of the U.S. Navy satellite MUOS-2 and features a very surprised turkey vulture in a striking pose in front of the American flag. Ben's comment: "Too bad it wasn't an eagle!"
![Atlas 5 launches MUOS-2](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x960_crop_center-center_60_line/20130719_MUOS-2.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x720_crop_center-center_60_line/20130719_MUOS-2.jpg 576w)
Visit launchphotography.com for more shots of the MUOS-2 launch (and nearly every other American launch).
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