Sonic booms recorded as Space Shuttle Atlantis breaks sound barrier upon re-entry

Here’s something for all you space nuts out there. I happen to be in Naples, Florida visiting my parents and I was able to catch Space Shuttle Atlantis breaking the sound barrier just as it flew overhead on its way back to Kennedy Space Center.

You’ll hear the booms about three quarters of the way in on the above video. There are two booms, one when the nose of the shuttle enters and one when the tail enters. The first one is more noticeable but it’s quickly followed by a second one.

Here’s a WAV file if you have trouble hearing the booms in the video…

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3 Comments so far

 
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Andrew (Who am I?)

Very nice.
I’m in Naples for the winter. The sonic boom woke me up this morning, and I wondered what caused it.
Thanks for recording it!

 
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Mark (Who am I?)

Cool , I’m in Orlando for work but I missed it this morning. My building’s walls are too thick.. I went outside at the supposed time, but I heard it was kind of late so I went in too early.

 
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diem (Who am I?)

I grew up just outside of Edwards Air Force Base, and sonic booms were a constant feature in the late 70’s/early 80’s. They also used to land the space shuttle and haul it back to Plant 42 on a flatbed on the street in front of mny house. Imagine seeing the space shuttle 20 feet away moving 3 mph with very little security at 7 years old. Very very cool.

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