Sonic Boom Will Announce Shuttle’s Return to Space Coast

Weather permitting, the Discovery space shuttle will land at the Kennedy Space Center on (June 14?) after a (14?) day mission to the International Space Station. Orlando residents usually hear a double sonic boom as the shuttle re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, which can rattle the windows on nearby homes as the shuttle makes its way to the Space Coast.

According to the NASA Web site, “A sonic boom is a loud noise caused by an object -- usually an airplane -- that is moving faster than the speed of sound. To a person on the ground, a sonic boom may sound like a clap of thunder. The noise comes from a shock wave produced by the object. A shock wave is a change in air pressure that builds up around the edges of an object that is moving faster than the speed of sound.”

To listen to the sonic boom, follow the local news reports to find out the exact time that the shuttle is landing. In Orlando, the sonic boom usually occurs within four minutes of the actual touchdown if the shuttle ends up passing over the I-4 corridor. If you do not hear the double sonic boom, the shuttle might be taking a different route over the Florida peninsula, or bad weather conditions may have redirected the shuttle to an alternate landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California.