Space Shuttle Atlantis Twin Sonic Booms From Re-Entry

[John19182004]

"that was the sonic boom, the shuttle has just entered the atmosphere" WRONG dude. All it means is it was supersonic as it went overhead where you were. It entered the atmosphere 4000 miles away at a point called Entry Interface, which is when it starts to feel the effects of the atmosphere. Fighterjets can make sonic booms, so could Concorde, and they were obviously IN the atmosphere all the time.

[travkccase]

its the nose and the tail, they each create a seperate sonic wave you hear as a BOOM

[John19182004]

there's 3 sonic booms: 1 as the air snaps across the nose, another over the wings, and another over the tail. But because the wings/tail are so close together, they sound as one, that's louder than the 1st one.

[bumsdrums]

the space shuttle just landed in Edwards air force base in California and i didn't realize what the sonic booms were till now

[Lilydiva1]

You can only hear it on the flight path. Being a Floridian, it's pretty awesome.

Gives me goosebumps!

[queefkake1]

Jesus Christ thats a lot louder than on nasa tv

[problemloadingpage]

it just re-entered and landed in california last saturday, i was outside and all i heard was: '' BOOOOM-BOOOOOOOMSSHHHHHHHHH...­''

[KJT922010T]

I live in south Florida probalbly 300 miles from KSC and we hear and feel the sonic boom

[4stemcellresearch]

was this the reentry on the west coast or is this in Florida.

[x6zakura]

where's the Big dick huh where the shuttle, all i hear is pop and people talking shit on the water......i'm going to spell what i think of this S.H.I.T!

[vate30]

go562 ur are wrong that was actually guile doing 2 sonic booms lol

[jacko39]

whoa

[Prometheus203]

I live on the west coast of Florida and the sonic boom is one thing I always look forward to, It makes me sad to think I may never hear another sonic boom again once the shuttle is retired in 2010. It definitely gives you a feeling of the true power of technology when a vehicle over 60 miles away can shake your house and set off car alarms as it effortlessly flys over.

[MrSemperFidelity]

@Prometheus203 So true. Wish I were there.

[Studman2011]

wait can you hear it any where in the world?!?!?!?

[Prometheus203]

No, you have to be near it's flight path.

[j2g2r]

lmao i herd it 2 i thought a plane blew 3.27.08

[MaxxDC]

I heard the samething 3.27.08 & thought something blew up..........nice vid

[crimsonwhite1]

Heard it last night here as well when Endeavor flew over. 3/27/2008

[DERvids]

Lol, the sonic booms sounded like the intro to Van Halen's 'Everybody Wants Some'.

[Swordsfor200Alex]

Finally someone on Youtube that knows how to post a sonic boom video. Thanks "go462" for educating the noneducated as to what they should here when a sonic boom occurs. Trust me, those are loud but just think at what altitude the shuttle was at when those occured. Just remember some of you think these guys at airshows are breaking the sound barrier when really it is just a vapor cone.

[tyton1234]

holy shit that was loud. i think i just shit my pants

[CanadianHunter99]

i heard that exact bang tonight just i don't think there was a space shuttle entering..lol

[endeavourandpanda]

That was amazing! The first boom was louder than the second

[transhuman7]

holy crap

[nenefaith86]

that is just amazing!!does it make that sound right after it enters the atmosphere?it is so loud that u can hear it all the way from up there

[cyaninternetdog]

wow thats loud

[michecaballe]

wow

[marthmaster79]

Dude, we heard those a while back when the shuttle had to land at Edwards out here in California.

[definitivedetour]

When I was a kid I saw the shuttle land at edwards... I remember hearing loud booms

[hobostreet123]

Amazing...

[selby06]

listen to how the boom does echo slap backs & reverberates all over the landscape --- amazing

[casey963]

Wow, I didnt know the boosters reintered that fast. Neat video.

[JephN]

Not the boosters. The boosters fall into the ocean within 10 minutes after liftoff. That's the sound of the orbiter reentering. Once it hits denser air, it's still going supersonic. the double boom is from being mach 1+. 1st boom is the nose shockwave, 2nd boom is wing shockwave

[eltiburon01]

I thought second boom was rom the vertical stabilizer

[Finkletonian]

@JephN He never said it was the boosters....



[matt876mma]

@JephN People always say its the shuttle entering the earth's atmosphere , but thats hardly the reason why sonic booms happen.....it's because its piercing the air faster than the speed of sound , just like the concord made a sonic boom and that only flew the height of an airliner, so not really anything to do with re-entering , just being in the atmosphere.

[4tt1]

AWESOME...... But the question to all of you is one.. Do you must see to believe? And if you do, HOW?

[JephN]

you don't have to see the shuttle to know it's the one making the sound. Nothing else natural or manmade has that distinct BOOM..BOOM effect.

[4tt1]

WOW....

Fascinating....

[lordzaphodbeeb]

Cool vid. I was in Dade City Florida in 1993 when the shuttle came in right over us. The news said to listen at night. Scared the crap out of me. It was much louder than I expected and shook the earth. This video shows the waves in the water caused by the concusion. We were by a lake in Fl, and the water did the same thing.

[komodork]

a question, how far do u have to be to hear the booms?

[whompus02]

Thats some cool shity. I remember hearing that while sitting in Jr High class years ago. Scared the crap out of everybody. Apparently the shuttle was diverted to Edwards AFB so the shuttle flew right over us

[Martek100]

I like how he said the shuttle's just entered the atmosphere like he knows it all LOL. It didn't JUST enter it.. it just passed YOU by overhead.. the samn thing entered the atmosphere MINUTES AND MINUTES before

[TheFerruccio]

Of course, technically, it was always in the atmosphere.

[TheMartekShow]

hahaha :P Aint that the solid truth right there lol

[LordFabs]

It is. A low earth orbit is in a very thin layer of air. The ISS eventually would fall to earth unless boosted up again.

[Martek100]

The shuttles sound is the nose and the wings NOT just entering the atmosphere.

[Atsuke]

It's the whole aircraft... Everything is moving @ supersonic speed on it.

[Martek100]

Thats not how you explain the famous "twin sonic booms"

[Atsuke]

Oh lol I thought you meant a regular sonic boom ;P my bad

[Martek100]

Its all good.. lol. I heard it a few hours ago, was quite impressed. I have that in my video log I just posted it. You can hear the boom and my whack ass brother all excited.

[Atsuke]

man goddamn it why didnt it fly over san jose LOL

[Martek100]

LOL, Awe.. yeah I know :(  Sad though that area wont ever get the boom :( The angle it comes in at is TOO high when it does go in NoCal thus no boom boom :( But hey you got a nice video

[Atsuke]

lol which one?

[Martek100]

NoCal. I was in NorthCal when Columbia came in and saw the first pieces blow off.  I actually have video Ive kept to myself and never released of it super close up. In any case I never heard the sonic boom as the shuttle must have been too high..

[Xeon286]

they did twice one time i was in school and they came in over los angeles

[S8clothing]

TODAY IN CA AT 11:43 PM

[Martek100]

check my video I got one from today :P

[Atsuke]

RGR

[ViperGuy10]

Awesome

[jkukd]

thats the best sonic boom ever

[K3RAZE]

wow

im not even there

and it scared the shit out of me just now..lol

[tecton61]

When I lived on Isla Mujeres, Mexico I got to hear this phenomenon and it's impressive. Generally the larger the vehicle the bigger the boom. Shook my windows and scared the shit out of my cat.

[crazyscotsman1976]

wow man mach 25!!! shit thats insane, nice

[ucfbtm]

It's always a beautiful,truly awesome experience.Great job capturing it!

[gymnastmike]

I was teaching gymnastics one time in Orlando when I heard my first sonic booms from the shuttle. Scared the pee out of me.

[mendonca98]

unbelievable. i heard it from seaworld when i was over there few years ago. didn't know what it was at the time though

[laserfloyd]

Ok that thing was still resonating until the end of the video... that's amazing!

[beserker1912]

so whuts it going mach 2

[bigjim32]

Mach 25 initially. It slows to apprach speed pretty quick after gettin ginto the thicker air.

[beserker1912]

i had no idea that mach 25 even existed.i need to read more

[bigjim32]

Technically mach infinity exists... its just another way of expressing velocity. The shuttle orbits the Earth at about 18,000 mph, and if you really want to hear something crazy, the Apollo dudes used to re-enter at about 35,000 fps (feet per second). Enjoy!

[tarvold28]

infinity itself doesn't exist ... its just a tools humans use either because a) we're lazy or b) its too large to comprehend.

those numbers you gave are comprehensible and therefore not M_infinity. But you do make your point (because to many 35,000 fps and 18,000 mph are figures too large to comprehend) so yeah.

[bigjim32]

I have no trouble comprehending 35Kfps... the reason that in aviation its expressed in mach number is because (1) its inpracticle to make gauges that read that high (2) Aerodynamic design usually hinges on the changing properties as a vehicle breaks the mach, and since mach number changes with altitude, its easier to express velocity in terms of mach number than true air speed.

[bigjim32]

And yes, if you want to get technical, Mach infinity does exist. Mach number is defined as your velocity divided by the speed of sound at that altitude (not MSL). So answer me this: What is the speed of sound in space? THe answer: about 0mph=0fps=0kts. OK, so take, say, 18,000moh divided by 0 and you get? Thats infinite Mach. Thats why space vehicle use velocity measures in fps for the Apollo program, and nm/h nowadays.

[beserker1912]

that is crazy.

[rparis1022]

Whats up? Pretty wicked huh? I recorded the booms too... Check out my video... I have the last shuttle landing as well but i was actually IN Titusville and it was EXTREMELY LOUD... still trying to figure out how to get it under 100 MB to get it uploaded to youtube.

[XACMF]

I live in Fort Myers and this is the first time that I feel the sonic boom in my new house and it really scared me!!! I knew that it was the returning day, but at 600AM i was still cozy in my bed.

Good to have it back safe!!! We are ready for the next one.