bobb@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Bob Bateman) (03/06/90)
Here's some raw data for you orbit watchers. Yesterday, (Sunday 3/4/90, approximately 9:59 PST), a sonic boom was heard in this area (at my house and at least ten miles away). Actually, it was a double boom, similar in intensity to that made by the SR-71's that used to demonstrate the effect for us periodically, except the interval between the booms was longer, on the order of one second, rather than the 1/4 second or so characteristic of the SR. For those who have not heard a boom of this nature, it is quite noticeable, even inside, but certainly not loud enough to break windows, knock things over, etc. I have heard that the double boom is characeristic of something, but I don't remember what. Can somebody clue me in? I've been loosely following the story line about this shuttle carrying a very heavy spy satellite, thus the steep polar orbit, etc, and I'm fairly sure that no previous shuttle landing has passed so close to this area before. Can someone extrapolate anything about the orbit from my location, distance propagation of the boom, time it was heard, etc? -- * Bob Bateman Grass Valley Group * bobb@gold.gvg.tek.com P.O. Box 1114 * 916-478-3562 Grass Valley CA 95945