Last night at about 9:15 – there was a massive boom heard all
across Belize, from Toledo to Corozal. Those near the coast who were outdoors
also report seeing a trail of fire in the sky heading north. What was it? Well,
by now you’ve probably heard: it was the space shuttle passing right above
Belize on track for a landing in Kennedy Air Force Base in Florida. Unexpected
and unusual, but nothing too out of the way: the space shuttle had a safe landing
in Florida when went completely according to plan and – there were no
fiery fragments that fell to earth in Belize.
We know that now, but last night all anyone knew was that there was
a massive boom so large that it caused windows to rattle. In Belize City, many
shuddered at the thought of another grenade – while in other areas –
those who saw the flash of fire in the sky concluded that a plane had burst
into flames and from the way it sounded – a piece of that plane had landed
– like – in the back yard. But it didn’t. In fact the trail
of fire was probably the burn from what are called the “aft steering jets”,
which gets the shuttle on track for its landing. And the boom? – Well
that’s what happened when something breaks the speed of sound –
going faster than 768 miles an hour. Keith Swift got the science and the reaction
from the streets today.
Michael Finnegan, Heard the Bang
“I heard the bang. I thought it was one of the normal criminal behaviour 
out here. I was extremely concerned and was hoping that nobody got hurt.”
Woman #1,
“I was inside watching TV and then I heard a noise like an explosion.
So I went outside but I didn’t see anything to say what was happening
so I just went back inside…I thought maybe another grenade or something
to that effect.”
Woman #2,
“Yeah I heard it. I was frightened because I jumped out of my sleep.
I thought it was a bomb.”
Man #1,
“I was coming from church and I just heard a loud bang. It sounded
like some type of explosion but I never did find out what it was.”
But in reality - the noise was the Space Shuttle Endeavour, seen here in video
from NASA, which descended directly across Belize at 9:05 last night at a speed
of two and half times the speed of sound, creating what’s called a sonic
boom.
Brian Dominguez, Civil Aviation Department
“What we heard was basically the orbiter doing it’s regular
and normal re-entry to earth through the atmosphere. The sonic boom is what
it is referred to. It is above the speed of sound and as a result there is a 
shockwave that follows this, remember you are going through air and you’ve
separating the air and the air flies over the shuttle and it quickly tries to
get back together but because of the speed it is an explosion and so that is
what we heard.”
The Space Shuttle Endeavour wasn’t detected, it wasn’t tracked,
and it wasn’t monitored by air traffic controllers here at the Phillip
Goldson International Airport. That is because it was flying at 84,000 feet
which is beyond Belize’s controlled airspace. But Brian Dominguez who
is an Air Worthiness Inspector at the Civil Aviation Department was tracking
it at home. He says NASA chose this route because of weather conditions.
Brian Dominguez,
“It passed over us and it went within, this thing travels at 115 miles
per second, that is the speed this thing moves at. It is the fastest ticket
to wherever.”
Dominguez says there is no evidence that any portion of the shuttle came off
on its re-entry.
Brian Dominguez,
“I doubt that very much. What they might have seen were fragments
from the heat coming off in the smoke. I saw it personally, I saw it as it flew
over because I was tracking it, and the image that you get from it reminds of
a jet passing. The only difference is because it is coming with the vast amount
of energy and all that lava under it, there is an orange glow that follows it
and that could be mistaken for different things.
I understand the sonic boom is a little bit frightening for those who haven’t
heard it but it is a natural phenomenon that goes on when you’re dealing
with these types of spacecrafts transcending certain areas. It is nothing to
worry about, trust me.”
And now that Belizeans now know what it was?
Man #1,
“Space shuttle? I don’t feel anyway. I just don’t know
why they didn’t inform anybody.”
The night-time landing is considered unusual but not unprecedented.
Residents of California had been warned to expect a sonic boom, but presumable
the landing course changed because of problems with the weather. The alternate
course as you saw in the story took it directly over Belize. According to the
NASA website, “As the orbiter slices through the atmosphere faster than
the speed of sound, the sonic boom -- really, two distinct claps less than a
second apart -- can be heard.”
Email
Print