A late-night sonic boom jolted residents across Los Angeles on Saturday, as a SpaceX Dragon capsule made its return to Earth.
McGee later admitted he wished he’d known about the sonic boom beforehand so he could have witnessed the capsule’s descent in the sky.
Just an hour before the sonic boom, SpaceX had posted that the Dragon would “announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom” prior to landing.
Recurring Sonic Booms Stir Debate Near Launch Sites Although Saturday night’s boom was unexpected for many in Los Angeles, sonic booms have become a regular phenomenon for those living near Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
SpaceX and the U.S. Space Force have acknowledged that frequent rocket launches and landings in the area generate disruptive noise.
On Saturday, a SpaceX Dragon capsule returned to Earth with a late-night sonic boom that startled people all over Los Angeles. approximately 10:45 p.m. m. Fears of an earthquake or other emergency were sparked when startled Angelenos reported hearing a loud explosion-like sound followed by noticeable rattling.
A Late-Night Noise Startled the Residents.
The boom caused confusion and a flurry of social media responses as it spread to neighborhoods from Santa Monica to Fresno. After hearing what some believed to be an explosion or even a television malfunction, many hurried to Reddit and TikTok in search of answers. A TikTok user named @limeysublime posted video, writing: “It was so loud that I honestly thought we were going to all die like dinosaurs.”. After the boom, Felix Jordan, a commenter on Corona, claimed to have been hyperventilating because he was certain it was “my last day on Earth.”. “”.
Orange resident Trent McGee was watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off while lying in bed when the incident rocked his house. He claimed that his fish tank had exploded. He checked his 360-gallon aquarium and made sure his exotic porcupinefish were safe before searching Reddit for the truth. Later, McGee acknowledged that he wished he had been aware of the sonic boom in advance so he could have seen the capsule descend through the sky.
Why Did Something Just Drop Back to Earth Over California?
NASA reported that the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which was carrying about 6,700 pounds of equipment and supplies for the ISS, undocked from the orbital outpost at 9:05 a.m. M. This Friday.
En route to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, it entered Earth’s atmosphere almost thirty-six hours later. SpaceX had announced on social media an hour before the sonic boom that the Dragon would “announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom” before landing.
To ensure that vital cargo reaches and returns from the ISS, the space agency and SpaceX coordinated this mission as part of ongoing resupply efforts. Although many were startled by the boom, the reentry itself was standard procedure and closely watched, as are all spacecraft returning at supersonic speeds.
Near launch sites, recurring acoustic booms spark debate.
Sonic booms have become commonplace for residents of Santa Barbara County, which is close to Vandenberg Space Force Base, even though Saturday night’s boom caught many people in Los Angeles off guard. The United States and SpaceX. S. . The Space Force has admitted that the noise produced by the regular rocket launches and landings in the region is annoying.
According to Camarillo local Brooke Heflin, “just as you’re falling asleep, it’s like a big boom — the walls shake, the windows shake, the dogs start barking.”. In essence, you wake up to an explosion. Then your thoughts finally clear up: It’s SpaceX once more,” he continued. You must then return to your sleep. “.”.
