A crowd of onlookers were surprised when the sonic booms following the launch of SpaceXs Falcon Heavy rocket produced a sound like space fighters in a sci-fi film.
The Falcon Heavy launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:41 a.m. on Tuesday, carrying the USSF-44 mission to a geosynchronous Earth orbit for the U.S. Space Force.
The rockets two side boosters were recovered on landing pads off the Florida coast, while the center booster spent its fuel and plunged into the ocean.
A video shared by Twitter user @NickyXPhoto shows a crowd of photographers in Merritt Island, just after the launch. After a few moments, the sonic boom can be heard, and it shakes the camera.
“Thats one,” a voice can be heard saying. Then, the sound of a high-pitched whine in motion can be heard. People can be heard questioning what theyre hearing.
Then, a second sonic boom can be heard. “Wow, that was delayed,” a voice can be heard saying. The high-pitched sound follows it again.
The camera turns to the crowd as everyone speculates about the cause of the echo. Behind them sits Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, which they guess must be it.
The VAB is designed for assembling large space vehicle components, and is one of the largest buildings in the world by area, according to NASA. Its high bay doors are the largest in the world at 456 feet high, and take 45 minutes to open or close.
It was the first National Security Space Launch Falcon Heavy, the Space Force said in a statement. During a 2019 test, the rocket launched experimental satellites for the Department of Defenses Space Test Program.
The Falcon Heavy, currently the most powerful operational rocket in the world, debuted in 2018 when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk launched his own Tesla Roadster into space, on a journey around the sun.
