When the space shuttle entered the atmosphere over Florida not too long ago there was the loudest sonic boom I've ever heard in my life and people for miles and miles felt and heard a HUGE explosion..... I completely forgot about this!! It shook the ground menacingly... I couldn't believe that. Do they always do that when they return from outer space??? or was it something else?
that would be interesting to hear her take. it was by far the loudest explosion I've ever heard and felt . . apparently that's just a sonic boom, I've heard sonic booms..... OK Why can't you hear shooting stars? Seriously.......
It always does that. I've heard/felt it a couple of times over 100 miles from the landing site, when it has landed in Edwards AFB in CA. They usually announce it on the news before hand so people don't freak out.
A meteorite (by definition) has to hit the ground, they do cause sonic booms. A meteoroid burns up in the atmosphere, most in the upper atmosphere where there isn't enough air pressure to cause a sonic boom.
Meteorites have caused sonic booms before. A meteor doesn't have to hit the ground to cause a sonic boom. A large meteor went across the Colorado region in the 1960s and caused a sonic boom. It was filmed in daylight with an 8mm movie camera. The meteor went back out into space. It was probably less than 50 miles above the earth since since the air pressure is very low above that height. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/08/new.zeland.meteor/ .
Another meteor that produced booms. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/meteorite_search_010830.html .
One way to distinguish between a boom from the shuttle and one caused by something else such as a meteor is the number of booms. The shuttle produces twin sonic booms, one boom from the leading edge of the vehicle and one from the trailing edge. If you are close enough to the landing site, the booms can be heard less than a second apart from each other. That's a signature of a large aircraft like the shuttle. If the observer is distant from the landing site, it often sounds like one boom. .
