A SpaceX rocket is scheduled to launch Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the return of its launch vehicle will create a sonic boom — or three.
The Falcon 9 rocket is expected to launch from the Santa Barbara County base at 9:17 a.m. Saturday. It will carry the Sentinel-6 Michael Feilich satellite, jointly developed by Europe and the United States to help scientists track the rise in global sea levels.
Because of coronavirus concerns, the public launch viewing area near the base has been closed. The launch will be streamed on NASA’s YouTube channel.
About nine minutes after launch, the reusable booster will return to earth. On descent it will create a sonic boom that might be heard in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.
The boom, which sounds like a loud thunderclap, occurs when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound.
A double boom typically occurred during the space shuttle’s landing approach; the Falcon booster’s signature is a triple boom, as the shock wave creates “cones” at the engine, the landing legs and the fins.
The landings after SpaceX’s early Vandenberg launches were aboard drone ships in the Pacific, but since October 2018 the boosters have been returning to a landing zone on the base.
The Link LonkNovember 20, 2020 at 11:54PM
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SpaceX launch: Triple sonic boom expected on Central Coast - The Mercury News
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