SpaceX’s Dragon capsule looks like a shooting star because it causes a sonic boom when it returns to Earth



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Bright light crossed the night sky over parts of Georgia and Florida last night, followed by a sonic boom that rocked homes in the area.

Many locals thought it was a shooting star or meteor falling to Earth, but the glowing object was SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on its return mission after a month-long stay in the sea. International Space Station (ISS).

The Cargo Dragon C208-2 detached from the ISS at 9:12 a.m. Thursday, following a refueling at the ship, and splashed into the Atlantic Ocean around 11 p.m. ET.

This is the 23 Elon Musk-owned company cargo resupply mission to the ISS, but this time it returned with a science experiment payload weighing a total of 4,600 pounds.

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Bright light crossed the night sky over parts of Georgia and Florida last night, which was followed by a sonic boom that rocked homes in the area.

Bright light crossed the night sky over parts of Georgia and Florida last night, which was followed by a sonic boom that rocked homes in the area.

SpaceX tweeted that the capsule may be visible in parts of Georgia and Florida – and the company was right.

Many residents shared the event on Twitter, showing footage of the luminous craft with a long, illuminated tail as it flew over highways and neighborhoods.

Local Florida news stations received numerous reports of a loud boom Thursday night, which was heard by residents of the Jacksonville area and as far away as St. Augustine.

Residents said the loud boom shook dishes and windows, as well as entire homes.

Many locals thought it was a shooting star or meteor falling to Earth, but the glowing object was SpaceX's Dragon capsule on its return mission after a month-long stay on the planet. International Space Station.

Many locals thought it was a shooting star or meteor falling to Earth, but the glowing object was SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on its return mission after a month-long stay on the planet. International Space Station.

SpaceX tweeted that the capsule may be visible in parts of Georgia and Florida - and the company was right

SpaceX tweeted that the capsule may be visible in parts of Georgia and Florida – and the company was right

The loud noise was a sonic boom released from the capsule, Newsweek reports.

According to NASA, a sonic boom is the thunder-like sound that a person on the ground hears when an airplane or spacecraft above their head flies faster than the speed of sound.

CRS-23 (Commercial Resupply Services 23) was flown using Cargo Dragon C208-23 and launched to the ISS on August 29.

The mission delivered crew supplies, science investigations, spacewalk equipment, and vehicle equipment to the ISS.

And he brought back experiments from the ship, which will be analyzed by researchers on Earth.

“I would like to warmly thank SpaceX and the NASA teams for delivering this vehicle to us in great shape, with a lot of science and surprise for the ISS,” said astronaut Shane Kimbrough, who is on board the ‘ISS. during a NASA livestream.

Many residents shared the event on Twitter, showing footage of the luminous craft with a long, illuminated tail as it flew over highways and neighborhoods

Many residents shared the event on Twitter, showing footage of the luminous craft with a long, illuminated tail as it flew over highways and neighborhoods

CRS-23 (Commercial Resupply Services 23) was flown using Cargo Dragon C208-23 and launched to the ISS on August 29.  The mission delivered crew supplies, science investigations, spacewalk equipment, and vehicle equipment to the ISS

CRS-23 (Commercial Resupply Services 23) was flown using Cargo Dragon C208-23 and launched to the ISS on August 29. The mission delivered crew supplies, science investigations, spacewalk equipment, and vehicle equipment to the ISS

“The activities associated with SpaceX 23 have kept our crew busy for the past month. We can’t wait to hear the results of the payloads we interacted with. Have a good trip back to Earth. ‘

The next Dragon freighter bound for the space station is currently targeting a launch in early December.

The event comes just two weeks after another Dragon capsule returned to Earth – but this one brought back the first fully civilian space mission.

The event comes just two weeks after another Dragon capsule returned to Earth - but this one brought back the first fully civilian space mission.  The Inspiration4 team - Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski

The event comes just two weeks after another Dragon capsule returned to Earth – but this one brought back the first fully civilian space mission. The Inspiration4 team – Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski

On September 18, four members of Inspiration4 landed in the Atlantic Ocean near Florida around 7 p.m. ET, after the crew had spent three days in orbit.

The Inspiration4 crew – Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski – launched into space shortly after 8 p.m. EST on September 15 aboard a modified Crew Dragon module from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. .

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