4 ms·

One really cool thing I heard in this video, is the double sonic booms from each booster. There are reasons behind it that I don't really understand, but each

One really cool thing I heard in this video, is the double sonic booms from each booster. There are reasons behind it that I don't really understand, but each booster makes 2 distinct sonic booms as it comes in to land. With Falcon Heavy launches, it makes a total of 4 of them!

MontagFTB 4y ago
SmarterEveryDay has a great video explaining this audio phenomenon from a previous Falcon Heavy launch: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ImoQqNyRL8Y https://youtube.com/watch?v=ImoQqNyRL8Y
dotnet00 4y ago
The booms are probably from the bottom and then the grid fins.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
nosequel 4y ago
As a kid I used to watch the Space Shuttle come in for landing, and it always had a distinct triple-boom on entry. Someone said it was the body and wing tips each making their own boom, but I never really confirmed it.
- PM_me_your_math 4y ago
  IIRC it was shocks at nose, wing tips and tail.
plegresl 4y ago
https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/space-exploration-technologies/double-triple-landing-falcon-9-creates-three-sonic-booms/ https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/space-explo...
numpad0 4y ago
I don’t understand either, but read that supersonic objects generate shockwaves at nose, root of wings(if any), and tail. Shockwaves also may reflect off terrains. Possibly it should always be “BAbababang-baaaang…”, and the first three might be either indistinguishable or ones after the first are too weak, except it becomes noticeably apart on extremely long objects like F9? 1: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegallery/Schlieren/index.html https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegalle...
- skykooler 4y ago
  In this case the two booms come from the "nose" (the engines, since at this point the booster is flying backwards) and from the grid fins at the far end. Given that the Falcon 9 boosters are about 70m tall, that would mean about a fifth of a second delay between the two booms when the booster is traveling at Mach 1.

MontagFTB 4y ago

SmarterEveryDay has a great video explaining this audio phenomenon from a previous Falcon Heavy launch: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ImoQqNyRL8Y https://youtube.com/watch?v=ImoQqNyRL8Y

dotnet00 4y ago

The booms are probably from the bottom and then the grid fins.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

nosequel 4y ago

As a kid I used to watch the Space Shuttle come in for landing, and it always had a distinct triple-boom on entry. Someone said it was the body and wing tips each making their own boom, but I never really confirmed it.

PM_me_your_math 4y ago
IIRC it was shocks at nose, wing tips and tail.

plegresl 4y ago

https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/space-exploration-technologies/double-triple-landing-falcon-9-creates-three-sonic-booms/ https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/space-explo...

numpad0 4y ago

I don’t understand either, but read that supersonic objects generate shockwaves at nose, root of wings(if any), and tail. Shockwaves also may reflect off terrains. Possibly it should always be “BAbababang-baaaang…”, and the first three might be either indistinguishable or ones after the first are too weak, except it becomes noticeably apart on extremely long objects like F9? 1: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegallery/Schlieren/index.html https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegalle...

skykooler 4y ago
In this case the two booms come from the "nose" (the engines, since at this point the booster is flying backwards) and from the grid fins at the far end. Given that the Falcon 9 boosters are about 70m tall, that would mean about a fifth of a second delay between the two booms when the booster is traveling at Mach 1.