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Southern California residents were alarmed Saturday evening when a sonic boom was heard throughout the area after a SpaceX rocket reentered the atmosphere.
Shortly before the noise was heard, SpaceX posted a statement on X alerting the public that its vessel Dragon was on track to splash down off the southern coast of California around 10.44pm.
The vessel undocked from the International Space Station Saturday afternoon. The spacecraft was filled with 6,700 pounds of crew supplies, science investigations and equipment that were being transported to the space hub. It arrived at the space station on April 22 after launching on April 21 from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The sonic booms have become a trend for people living near the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, the newspaper reported, noting that U.S. Space Force and SpaceX officials have acknowledged the issue.
Still, it doesn’t appear residents will get relief soon. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said his company will launch more than 90 rockets from the base by 2026 and military officials have rejected calls to reduce the noise.
SpaceX is a privately owned company that designs, manufactures and launches rockets and spacecraft. The company made headlines recently after two SpaceX rockets exploded in a row.
In January, a starship rocket failed minutes after it launched from the company’s Texas facility. Two months later, a rocket exploded after it launched from the same facility, causing flights to be grounded and triggering warnings about failing spaceship debris.
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