That could only mean one thing... STS-122 is home! :beerchug: It's quite something to wake up to the house shaking. :stars: But, here on the "Space Coast", we love the sound. It takes about 3-4minutes after I hear the sonic booms for the shuttle to be on the ground.... They fly over the house, then back out over the Atlantic, make a u-turn and land on runway 15/33 at the Kennedy Space Center. Runway 15 is one of the longest in the world, at 15,000ft long! We have a lot of pride for the men and women that are NASA, here on the Island. A lot of my neighbors work in the Shuttle Program. Please join me in welcoming our friends home from their journey to touch the face of God. :salut: From the left are European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts; astronauts Stanley G. Love, all mission specialists; Stephen N. Frick, commander; Alan G. Poindexter, pilot; Leland D. Melvin and Rex J. Walheim, both mission specialists. :usflag:
I'd be pissed if they woke me up. You should write a letter to your congressman to have them make it quieter and not put out noise pollution. Ha welcome back and I bet that someone actually has complained about it.. Very cool i would love to see a suttle take off or land. Glad another safe mission.
very cool. i have to admit that i read the first line and was like "what's a sts-122?" question though, why would it have twin sonic booms?
Glad to hear they're all back safely. Frick? Poindexter? That's just plain AWESOME! :grin: You'll get sonic booms because as the Space Shuttle re-enters the Earth's atmosphere, it's traveling at about Mach 22 (approx. 16,000 mph). As it gets closer to Earth, the sonic booms become easier for those of us on the ground to hear. BTW- If a LordBoard Aficionado gives you hell about the MPG your SRT gets, remind them that they too paid for the least fuel efficient vehicle ever made: The Space Shuttle. :laugh:
That's a very good question, Amy. :hmm: Most sonic booms come in pairs, actually (one from the nose, and one from the leading edge of the wings)... And most people say the Space Shuttle actually has a very distinct set of "booms". But, I don't know why that is. :dunno2: It may be that it's going so fast (the Shuttle can reach speeds of upto MACH 27 .... That's 20,547MPH!!! :drugs.... But, I'm pretty sure it's not going that fast when it passes over to land. :laugh:
Jake- if you're going 20,000 mph and only have a 15,000 ft. runway, you'll need KITT-type brakes to stop in time. :grin: Here's a link on why the Shuttle has a pair of booms: http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1997-12/874604921.Eg.r.html Some guy in Naples, FL gets the booms on video: http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/02/2...-atlantis-breaks-sound-barrier-upon-re-entry/ After his goofy head moves out of the frame, you can hear the "BOOM--BOOM". It's quick, but it's there. Jake- The nose and the tail are the two points of 'boom'. Not the leading edge of the wings. In most cases, the wing tips and nose will be the first parts of the aircraft to reach Mach first.
that is freaking sweet i woundnt mind waking up to that... hell im use to mortor rounds going off :grin:
nice thanks for the info. i got a fly-by once of some navy plane (can't remember which one) when i was out on the uss enterprise for friends and family day, but i don't remember hearing two booms. i probably just wasn't paying attention lol.
U.S.S. Enterprise? Probably an F-14 Tomcat or an F-18 Hornet. The Shuttle does 2 audible booms because of it's length. The booms come about 1/2 a second apart. On a fighter plane (which isn't as long as the Shuttle) there are two booms, but they are so close together it's difficult to hear it with the human ear. When I first read Jake's wake up tale, I thought it was about Mach 3, Mach 2, Mach 1.
Not this time, Bud. It was over and done before I could get me shorts on! LOL! :flipout: She does streak across the sky tho! :rockon:
Actually, that's kinda what I thought too before I (attempted) to research it.... MACH 1= 1 boom; MACH 2= 2 booms; etc.... :dunno2:
speaking of flybys and fighter jets. theres one fly by i will never forget; Place: Iraq Location: outside a town taking mortor fire we were trying to hit a town and were getting pushed back by mortors round they were walking toward us. one of the other teams called in air and we has an F-18 hornet come flying around 150 ft above in the pop, flip over and engaged the guys firing the mortors it was such a comforting feeling just hearing that F-18 fly by. and shortly after he left 2 Hues came rolling in and finished off what was left :rock: :usflag: :salut:
Another cool thing is we have a NASA channel! (Channel 15 on Brighthouse).... They show the whole thing, from spotting videos as the shuttle comes in all the way to the crew getting outta the bird. They even show the post-flight inspection (the guys in the hazmat suits and the shuttle sitting there heaving and steaming) and transport back to the hanger.... all LIVE. :rockon: Pretty cool to watch, actually. :smart:
Actually Jake, it's one "boom" (nose + tail) per Mach. :grin: What I learned today is that size does matter....esp. when it comes to traveling 700+ mph. If only I could get traction............
