April 2011 

NASA/CR–2011-217080 

A Compilation of Space Shuttle Sonic Boom 

Measurements 

Domenic J. Maglieri and Herbert R. Henderson 

Eagle Aeronautics, Inc., Hampton, Virginia 

Steven J. Massey 

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 

Eugene G. Stansbery 

NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 
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April 2011 

NASA/CR–2011-217080 

A Compilation of Space Shuttle Sonic Boom 

Measurements 

Domenic J. Maglieri and Herbert R. Henderson 

Eagle Aeronautics, Inc., Hampton, Virginia 

Steven J. Massey 

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 

Eugene G. Stansbery 

NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 
Available from: 

NASA Center for AeroSpace Information 

7115 Standard Drive 

Hanover, MD 21076-1320 

443-757-5802 

The use of trademarks or names of manufacturers in this report is for accurate reporting and does not 

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
 1

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.

SUMMARY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -4 

INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -5

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -5

LAUNCH-ASCENT AND REENTRY-DESCENT MEASUREMENT LOCATIONS - - - - - - -6

FLIGHT TRAJECTORIES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -7

ATMOSPHERIC OBSERVATIONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -7

SONIC BOOM MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -8

Sonic Boom Data Acquisition System - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -8

Portable Automatic Triggering system - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -9

SONIC BOOM MEASUREMENT STATION SET-UP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -9

SONIC BOOM MEASUREMENTS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10

Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10

Launch-ascent Focus Boom Region Signatures - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11

Reentry-Descent Signatures - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12

Atmospheric effects- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12

Waveform categories - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13

Influence of altitude- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13

Sonic boom footprint - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13

COMPARISON OF AIRCRAFT AND SPACECRAFT BOOMS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14

CONCLUDING REMARKS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -15

REFERENCES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17

APPENDIX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -20

Description of STS Sonic Boom Electronic File - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 20

Description of Algorithms - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 20 

Comparison of Signature Characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21

Appendix Figures:

A-1 Description of STS Sonic Boom Electronic File - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 20

A-2 Comparison of Scanned to Digital Signatures for STS-33 Reentry - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22

Appendix Tables:

A1.Comparison of Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics for STS-33 Reentry - - - - - - - - - - -23

A2.Comparison of Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics on STS-1 Reentry - - - - - - - - - - - - 24

A3.Comparison of Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics on STS-26 Reentry - - - - - - - - - - - 24
 2

LIST OF TABLES

Tables:

1. Listing of STS Missions on Which Sonic Boom Measurements Were Acquired - - - - - - -26

2. Listing of STS Missions on Which Descent Sonic Boom Ground Footprints Were

Predicted But No Measurements Were Made - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 27-28

3. Selected parameters From Preflight Launch Trajectory Data for STS-41D - - - - - - - - - - - 29 

4. Selected Parameters From Descent Trajectory for STS 51D - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -30/31 

5. Summary of STS-41D Atmospheric Profiles - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -32/33

6. Summary of STS Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 34-42

7. Summary of maximum Sonic Boom Overpressures Measured on STS Missions- - - - - - - - 43

List of Symbols

C Centigrade

DG degrees

GMT Greenwich mean time

H altitude, ft.

Io boom signature positive impulse, lb/ft2

-sec

JSC Johnson Space Center

KSC Kennedy Space Center

M Mach number

meas. measured

MSL mean sea level

MSN mission number

NOAA National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

∆p sonic boom overpressure, lb/ft2

∆po maximum positive boom overpressure, lb/ft2

pred. predicted

STS Space Transportation System

∆T total period of boom signature, sec.

∆to time duration of positive phase of boom signature, sec

τ1/2 rise time of bow shock to one-half amplitude, msec

τ3/4 rise time of bow shock to three-fourths amplitude, msec

τ10-90 rise time of bow shock from 10 to 90 percent amplitude, msec

τmax rise time of bow shock to maximum amplitude, msec
 3

 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Page No.

1. Photograph of Space Shuttle Launch Vehicle at Lift-Off- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 44

2. Schematic of Space Shuttle Launch Vehicle - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 45

3. Orbiter Columbia Nearing Touchdown - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 46

4. STS Orbiter Characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 47

5. STS Launch Site and Sonic Boom Measurement Regions- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 48

6. STS Landing Sites and Sonic Boom Measurement Regions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 49

7. Representative STS Launch-Ascent Mach-Altitude Trajectories (STS-5) - - - - - - - - - - - 50

8. Time histories of STS Orbiter Reentry-Descent Flight Parameters (STS-26) - - - - - - - - - 51

9. Representative STS Reentry-Descent to Landing Mach-Altitude Trajectory (STS-51D) - 52

10. Type of Atmospheric Information Acquired on STS Sonic Boom Measurements - - - - - - 53

(STS-41D ascent).

11. Photographs and Schematics of Analog and Digital Sonic Boom Measurements Systems 54

12. Typical STS Sonic Boom Measurement Station Setups. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 55

13. Representative Measured Sonic Boom Signatures From STS Ascent and Reentry. - - - - - 56

14. Typical Noise Spectra Associated with STS Ascent and Reentry Sonic Boom Signatures 57 

15. Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 58

16. Description of Launch-Ascent Focus Boom Region- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -59

17. STS Launch-Ascent Sonic Boom Signatures Within Focus Region - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -60

18. Saturn-Apollo 17 Launch-Ascent Sonic Boom Signature Within Focus Region (ref. 3). - 61

19. Measured Sonic Boom Signatures Near the Ground Track During Reentry Descent - - - - 62

of STS-1 Orbiter Along With Details of the Bow-Shock Rise Time (from ref. 37).

20. Variation in Measured Sonic Boom Signatures from STS Descent Resulting from the- - -63

Atmosphere. (OJAI, CA, M~3.6, H ~100,000 ft.)

21. Sonic Boom Waveform Categories - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 64

22. Comparison of Pressure Signatures From the 10 Measurements Sites in California- - - - - 65

Which Received Sonic Booms from STS-26 Reentry (from ref. 38).

23. Comparison of Measured and Predicted Sonic Boom Overpressures Observed at- - - - - - 66

the 11 Measurement Sites in California From STS-26 Reentry (from ref. 38)

24. Comparison of Measured On-Track Sonic Booms Signatures for Reentry-Descent of - - -67

the STS Orbiter and Other Aircraft.

25. Measured and Predicted Sonic Boom Overpressures Near the Ground Track for Several - 68

Aircraft and Spacecraft.
 4

 A COMPILATION OF SPACE SHUTTLE SONIC BOOM MEASUREMENTS

SUMMARY

Sonic boom measurements have been obtained on 26 flights of the Space Shuttle beginning with

the first launch of STS-1 on April 12, 1981, to the reentry-descent of STS-41 into EAFB on October 10, 1990. A total of 136 boom measurements were acquired; 23 during three STS launchascents and 113 during the 23 STS reentry-descents to landing. A total of 123 boom signatures

were acquired, 20 on ascent and 103 on reentry. These sonic boom measurements were made

under and to the side of the vehicle ground track and cover the Mach and altitude range of about

1.3 to 23 and 58,000 feet to 243,000 feet, respectively.

For the launch-ascent phase of flight, measurements were concentrated off the Florida coast in an

area of the Atlantic Ocean, about 40 n.mi east of the launch site in order to define the magnitude

of the focus boom. Single shock pressure signatures, similar to blast explosion waveforms, with

periods of about 2.0 seconds to 8 seconds, were observed with overpressure levels ranging from

about 0.4 psf in the pre- and post-focus region to 6.81 psf along the focus line. The nature of the

focus region and signature characteristics are quite similar to those obtained during launch-ascent

of the Apollo-Saturn vehicle. In each case the predictive tools were suitable to define the location

and extent of the focus region.

For the reentry-descent phase of flight, the measurements were made on land with the majority

acquired in the state of California and about 25 percent in the state of Florida. The measured

boom signatures were generally N-wave in character, similar to those observed from supersonic

aircraft, with amplitudes ranging from about 0.10 psf from the vehicle at about 243,000 feet altitude to a maximum of 2.32 psf just prior to landing. Signature periods, however, were much

greater than those observed on aircraft being on the order of about 0.40 second to about 2.5 seconds. Predictions of the magnitude of sonic booms and ground footprints for Mach numbers to

about 6.0 compared favorably with measurements.

Even though the Orbiter performs maneuvers during the reentry-descent phase of flight, which

result in roll angle and heading changes, they were not predicted to result in focus booms at the

ground and none were observed. Atmospheric turbulence, especially in the lower layers of the

atmosphere. result in peaking or rounding of the N-wave signatures similar to what has been

observed from aircraft in supersonic flight where the changes to the bow-shock are repeated on

the tail shock. It is observed, however, that when the Orbiter is at very high altitudes where the

signature periods are large and overpressures relatively low that the bow and tail shock distortions

resulting from the atmosphere sometimes differ.
 5

 INTRODUCTION

Over the past half century, sonic boom technology development has been focused on high-performance supersonic aircraft and an extensive database has been developed for these aircraft. Since

the geometric and operational characteristics of the Space Shuttle differ significantly from supersonic aircraft, estimation of its sonic boom characteristics requires a new technology base. As a

result, considerable effort was directed towards developing an extensive sonic boom database for

the Space Shuttle for both the launch-ascent and reentry-descent phases of operation. The sonic

boom measurements acquired during the launch and ascent of the Saturn-Apollo Program (refs. 1-

3) during the early 1970’s, along with the associated wind-tunnel and prediction activities (refs. 4-

8), would have direct application to Shuttle. Likewise, the 20-year sonic boom database acquired

on supersonic aircraft (ref. 9-13) is also applicable to the Shuttle Orbiter reentry-descent phase of

flight. However, this latter database did not cover the high Mach-altitude operating range of the

more blunt low fineness ratio Orbiter. These existing databases aided immensely in defining the

needs regarding the prediction of sonic booms for shuttle.

During the mid- and late-1970’s, a number of wind tunnel tests of both launch vehicle and Orbiter

reentry vehicle were conducted (refs. 14-17) and empirical schemes were developed to apply to

the prediction of sonic booms at high Mach-altitude conditions (refs. 18-22). Sufficient information was developed to provide for a fairly complete description of the booms expected of the

Shuttle (ref. 23), and to produce an environmental impact statement (ref. 24). In addition, the

information helped define the type of sonic boom measurements that should be acquired on the

planned STS flights (refs.25-29).

Sonic boom measurements have been obtained on 26 flights of the Space Shuttle system beginning with the first launch of STS-1 on April 12, 1981, to the reentry-descent of STS-41 into

EAFB on October 10, 1990. A total of 23 boom measurements were acquired within the focus

region off the Florida coast during 3 STS launch-ascents and boom measurements were acquired

during 23 STS reentry-descent to landing into Florida and California. These sonic boom measurements were made under, and lateral to, the vehicle ground track and cover the Mach-altitude range

of about 1.3 to 23 and 58,000 feet to 243,000 feet, respectively. In addition to the measured sonic

boom signatures, vehicle operational data, flight profiles, and weather data were also gathered

during the flights. This STS boom measurement database is contained in 26 documents, a few of

which are formal and referenceable (refs. 30-38), but most are internal documents and are not referenceable and also not readily available. Another 38 documents, also non-referenceable, contain

predicted sonic boom footprints for reentry-descent flights on which no measurements were

made.

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the STS sonic boom database and summarize the main findings. An electronic database of the STS boom signatures, spectra, and characteristics along with operational conditions and weather data is contained in a supplemental electronic

file that also includes all of the existing STS sonic boom documents that formed the database.

 VEHICLE DESCRIPTION

A photograph of the Space Shuttle vehicle at lift-off from Cape Kennedy is presented in figure 1.

In figure 2 is shown a schematic of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle in the ascent configuration.
 6

The launch vehicle consists of an Orbiter, an external tank and a booster made up of two solid

rocket motors as shown in figure 2. The solid rocket motors burn in parallel with the Orbiter main

propulsion engines and are separated from the Orbiter/external tank at burnout of about 150,000

feet altitude. Thereafter the Orbiter main propulsion engines continue to burn until the Orbiter is

injected into the required ascent trajectory. The launch vehicle has an overall length of 184.2 feet

and had a gross lift-off weight of about 4-1/2 million pounds.

Figure 3 is a photograph of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia nearing touchdown. The Orbiter

is a lifting vehicle capable of maneuvering and landing much like an airplane by using its control

surfaces which are augmented by a reaction control system. During its atmospheric flight, it is

capable of flying at angles of attack as high as 40 degrees and rolling about the velocity vector to

+ 70 degrees. A three-view illustration and dimensions of the Orbiter along with details of the

fuselage and wing sections are shown in figure 4. The Orbiter is comparable in size and 

weight to modern transport aircraft. It weighs about 200,000 pounds at landing, is 122.25 feet 

in length and has a wing-span of 78.06 feet and a fineness ratio of about 4, considerably less than

10 to 12 of supersonic transport (SST) designs. From reentry to landing, the Orbiter is a gliding

vehicle since it does not have any propulsion system. The orbiter vehicle is trimmed to provide a 

hypersonic lift-to-drag ratio of approximately 1.3 during entry. At subsonic speeds, the maximum

trimmed lift-to-drag ratio, with the speed brake closed, is about 4.9.

LAUNCH-ASCENT AND REENTRY-DESCENT MEASUREMENT LOCATIONS

All Shuttle launches are performed at the Kennedy Space Center launch site in Florida. As shown

in figure 5, the launch trajectories are in an easterly direction out over the Atlantic Ocean. The

sonic boom measurement region of interest is an area some 40-50 miles east of the launch site

where boom focussing occurs at the ocean surface as the vehicle accelerates from subsonic to

supersonic speeds. Boom measurements aimed at describing the focus boom region were acquired

on three Shuttle launches. As noted earlier and also in Table I, a total of 23 boom measurements

were made during Shuttle ascents including a single boom measurement on STS-5 (ref. 33), seven

on STS-7 (ref. 34) and fifteen on STS-41-D (ref. 36). 

STS landing sites and sonic boom measurement regions are shown in figure 6. Recovery for all

but one STS missions occurred at either Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), California or Kennedy

Space Center (KSC), Florida; STS-3 was recovered at White Sands, New Mexico. As shown in

Table I, of the twenty-three STS reentry flights on which sonic boom measurements were

obtained, eighteen landed at EAFB, and five at KSC. As can be seen from figure 6, reentry to

landing at EAFB was from the west, southwest, and north. Sonic boom measurements were

acquired at numerous locations in California and also in Oregon. Reentry into KSC was from the

west, and north. Sonic boom measurements were acquired at a number of locations in Florida and

one in Texas. On STS reentry flights, the number of measurements varied from two to fourteen;

the total number of measurements made was 113 (see Table 1).

In addition to the 26 STS missions (ascent and descent) on which 136 sonic boom measurements

were acquired, there were another 38 STS missions on which descent sonic boom ground footprints were predicted but no measurements were obtained. Those are listed in Table 2 along with

the launch and landing dates, appropriate ground track and land areas involved and landing site. It

can be seen that of these 38 STS missions, 21 landed at EAFB, 16 at KSC, and one at White

Sands.
 7

 FLIGHT TRAJECTORIES

Representative launch-ascent and reentry-descent-to-landing trajectories are given in figures 7, 8,

and 9 for STS-5, STS-26 and STS-51-D, respectively.

The Mach-altitude time history for STS-5 is presented in figure 7 and is typical of all launchascent trajectories. This initial phase of the launch-ascent of the Shuttle results in the down-range

focused booms. Note from figure 7 that the origin of the focus booms region occurs slightly less

than 2 minutes after launch when the vehicle is at about Mach 3.6 and 110,000 feet altitude. The

boom arrives at the measurement site some three minutes later. Table 3 presents selected parameters from a preflight launch-ascent trajectory for Shuttle (STS-41D) as a function of time from

lift-off. Listed are down range distance, Mach number, altitude, latitude, longitude, heading and

flight path angle.

Presented in figure 8 are typical time histories of six flight parameters of the STS-26 Orbiter reentry-descent that were used in sonic-boom predictions (refs. 38-39). Included are vehicle altitude,

Mach number, flight path angle, angle of attack, heading and roll angle. These plots, which begin

at about Mach 10 at an altitude of 160,000 feet, are plotted against time to touchdown. Note that

with the exception of heading and roll angle, most of the time histories are relatively smooth without any large excursions. In fact, the maximum roll-angle rate, associated with heading changes,

is only about 8 degrees per second as compared to military aircraft maneuvers, whose roll-angle

rates may be an order of magnitude greater. Any significant and rapid change in any of these

parameters would be of concern relative to possible sonic-boom focussing. Such is not the case

for the Orbiter reentry (ref. 40). 

The Mach-altitude time history for STS-51D during descent to landing is presented in figure 9.

Note that the Orbiter becomes subsonic below about 50,000 feet. It is of interest to note that for

level flight in a standard atmosphere, no booms will reach the ground with the vehicle flying

above the tropopause (36,000 feet altitude) at a Mach number less than about 1.15. However, with

the Orbiter at a flight path angle of about -16 degrees (i.e., dive angle), the cutoff Mach number

(Mach below which booms will not propagate to the ground) is about 1.02 (ref. 41). As can be

seen from figure 9, the Orbiter descent profile is designed to avoid booms reaching the ground

from flights below 50,000 feet altitude. Table 4 presents selected parameters for the last 7 minutes

of the Orbiter descent trajectory to landing for STS-51D as a function of time to Mach 1.0. Listed

are Mach number, altitude, flight path angle, latitude, longitude, heading, roll angle and angle of

attack.

Trajectories for all 26 STS missions on which sonic boom signatures were obtained (see Table 1)

are contained in the supplemental electronic database.

 ATMOSPHERIC OBSERVATIONS

Prior to an STS mission detailed weather observations were made at the Cape Kennedy launch

site which included climatological data (surface temperature, relative humidity, surface winds and

direction and cloud cover) windsonde observations, rawinsonde soundings from near the surface

to about 80,000 feet and rocketsonde measurements to about 200,000 feet altitude. These latter
 8

two soundings provided measures of atmospheric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind

speed and direction. An example of these observations associated with the launch of STS-41D is

presented in Table 5 and the pressure, temperature and wind speed and direction, graphically illustrated in figure 10. Similar observations were made at the recovery site prior to the Orbiter reentry

and descent-to-landing.

For the majority of the STS missions on which booms were acquired, weather observations were

not performed at the measurement locations. However, rawinsonde soundings from the nearest

NOAA weather station and at the closest time to sonic boom arrival (NOAA standard rawinsonde

launch times are at OO GMT and 1200 GMT) were acquired and these are contained in the supplemental electronic database for 25 of the 26 STS missions on which booms were measured.

Data for STS-2 is no longer available in NOAA files.

SONIC BOOM MEASUREMENTS SYSTEMS

Two different sonic boom measurement systems were utilized to acquire the signatures associated

with the Shuttle ascent and Orbiter descent to landing; the analog Sonic Boom Data Acquisition

System (SBDAS) and the digital Portable Automatic Triggering System (PATS). The SBDAS,

which was the measurement standard for a majority of the sonic boom measurements from supersonic aircraft (refs. 9 and 42) and Apollo was the only system available during the early STS missions. These systems, which are no longer available, were subsequently complemented with the

digital PATS (ref. 38) which also are no longer available and have been excessed. These PATS, of

the time,eventually dominated the boom measurement activity on Shuttle. Photographs and schematics of the analog SBDAS and digital PATS sonic boom measurements systems is shown in figure 11. A brief description of each follows.

Sonic Boom Data Acquisition System

The SBDAS and its block diagram is shown in figure 11(a). The system components included

condenser microphones, Dynagages, signal conditioning amplifiers, FM magnetic tape recorders

and satellite time code receivers.

The microphones employed were Photocon Model 404 condenser units designed for use in conjunction with Photocon Model DG-605 Dynagages that had a high frequency response essentially

flat to 10K Hz with a low frequency response averaging approximately -5 dB at 0.01 Hz. The

microphone had a small capillary hole through the housing which allowed some airflow so that

the static pressure within the capsule was always equal on both sides of the diaphragm even at frequencies well below 20 Hz. This technique allowed for system balancing and tuning in response

to changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure during field operation. The diaphragm of the

microphone, in conjunction with an insulated electrode, formed an electrical capacitor. The Dynagages consisted of a radio frequency oscillator coupled to a diode detector circuit such that small

changes in the microphone produced relatively large changes in the diode detector. The output

from the Dynagage was then input to Burr-Brown Model 3640-1 DC amplifiers with 60 dB gain

(in 2 dB steps) to meet the input voltage requirements of the FM magnetic tape recorder. Typically, four microphones were used with amplifiers to provide six different gain settings. These six
 9

pressure signals were recorded along with a voice track and IRIG-B time code provided by True

Time Model 468-time code receivers designed to receive the NOAA “GOES” satellite.

 Portable Automatic Triggering System

The PATS and its block diagram shown in figure 11b was a small portable, sound recording

device capable of unmanned operation. It consisted of a solid state piezoresistive pressure transducer, signal conditioning amplifier, analog-to-digital converter, clock, and eight solid state Random Access memory (RAM) banks all powered by a rechargeable battery. Generally, pressure

data from the transducer was amplified and conditioned by a low noise amplifier/high pass filter

with a cut-off of about 0.3 Hz. This signal was digitized with 8-bit resolution at a switch selectable sampling rate of either 8.0 or 1.5 kHz. Digitized pressure was recorded in a continuous loop

in one of the eight memory banks until an overpressure of greater than a predetermined trigger

level and duration of at least 10 msec was detected. The data loop was then stopped with the captured data remaining in memory, time was annotated and the next memory bank was selected.

The pressure transducer employed was the Motorola MPX-50D. Although this was a differential

pressure transducer, it was employed here in a gauge mode of operation. The back side of the

transducer was evacuated to 1/2 atmospheric pressure, while an epoxy cement was allowed to set,

sealing the vent. This allowed the transducer to operate in the middle of its static range, thereby

increasing the linearity and reducing the signal noise when compared to an absolute pressure

transducer referenced to a vacuum. The frequency response of the MPX-50D in this mode of

operation was essentially a function of the slew rate, but was generally greater than 10 kHz for

this application.

The output of the MPX-50D was input into a three-stage amplifier/high-pass filter with offset

capabilities. The first stage used a Burr-Brown OPA-27 ultra low noise operational amplifier. The

high pass filter had a cutoff of approximately 0.3 Hz. A total amplifier gain on the order of 10,000

produced a system capable of recording a full-scale reading of approximately 600 Pa (about 12

psf). The pressure transducer and amplifier/high pass filter were housed in a grounded metal

enclosure and connected to the main unit by a shielded extension cable.

The signal from the amplifier was sent to a sample and hold device and then digitized at a switch

selectable rate by an Analog Device (ADC-0802) eight bit analog-to-digital converter. The digitized data are recorded in a continuous loop by a 16,000 byte Random Access Memory bank. A

trigger detecting circuit also receives the input signal from the amplifier. This circuit produced a

trigger pulse when a positive impulse was received. The impulse must have a time to preset

threshold of less then 100 msec and it must remain at or above the threshold longer than 10 msec.

When a triggering signal was received, further triggering was inhibited, the RAM memory bank

continues recording pressure data for 15,000 counts at which point time was annotated, and the

next memory bank was selected.

Field calibration of these units was accomplished by recording the sine wave of a Photocon PC125 fixed frequency sound pressure level calibrator into one of the unit’s memory banks.

 SONIC BOOM MEASUREMENT STATION SET-UP

Two different boom measurement arrangements were used for the ascent and reentry phases of the

STS flights and these are shown in figure 12. In order to acquire the ascent focus boom signatures,
 10

the measurement systems were placed aboard ships, as shown in figure 12(a) which were positioned within a region defined by a preflight STS sonic boom analysis. Range safety considerations did not allow ships to be deployed any closer than 6.5 nautical miles to the Shuttle ground

track. All boats were equipped with LORAN C navigation aids with some having Global Positioning Systems and LORAC (Long Range Accuracy). The analog SBDAS was used on all three

ascent measurements (STS-5, STS-7, and STS-41D). The PATS, which were then called the

Remote Sonic Boom Monitoring Systems (RSBMS) were also used on STS-7 and STS-41D and

deployed on the ocean in specially designed buoys. An accompanying radar reflector allowed

tracking of the buoy, thus, it was possible for one boat to deploy several of the units and allow

them to drift in the current. This greatly increased the cost effectiveness of the boat. The obvious

problem with this method was the inability to place the buoy in a precisely determined position.

However, considering the narrowness (width) of the focus line and the difficulties, due to atmospheric variations, in predicting its precise position, even one buoy nearby increased the chances

of bracketing the focus.

Measurements for all 23 of the STS reentry flights were made on land and deployed as illustrated

in figure 12(b). Both the analog SBDAS and digital PATS boom measurement systems were

deployed on a number of flights, the SBDAS systems on the early missions and the PATS dominating the measurements as the program progressed.

SONIC BOOM MEASUREMENTS 

The measured sonic boom ground signatures associated with the STS launch-ascent and Orbiter

reentry-descent are quite different in character as illustrated in figure 13. Note, from figure 13(a)

that the boom signature measured in the post-focus region (i.e., downtrack of the focus line) during the STS-41D ascent phase consists of an initial bow shock followed by a long expansion, similar to signatures associated with the Saturn-Apollo ascents (refs. 1-3) and explosive charges.

Thus, only a single boom was observed. Note that the boom signature period was almost 4.0 seconds. Although the Shuttle, in the launch configuration represents quite a large vehicle, the initial

shock results from the very large STS exhaust plume. In comparison the reentry-descent signatures from the Orbiter on STS-41B, shown in figure 13(b), was typical of those observed from

supersonic aircraft in that it was N-wave in shape, consisting of a bow and tail shock. Two booms

would be observed from such a signature. The signature period, however, was about twice those

observed from aircraft.

The relatively large period associated with the ascent signature results in a noise spectrum that has

its peak energy at a much lower frequency (about 0.15 Hz) than the descent signature (about 1.0

Hz) as can be seen in figure 14. Both, however, occur at frequencies lower than those for aircraft

sonic booms. The signature spectrum plays a significant role in the outdoor and indoor response

of people to sonic booms and the building response (ref. 43).

 Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics

Each STS measured boom signature, was characterized by the parameters shown in figure 15 and

include its overpressure (∆po), total period (∆T), time period of the positive phase (∆to), the

impulse of the positive phase (Io) and readings of the initial bow shock rise time (τ). Although

only the rise time to the maximum overpressure (τmax) was shown on the figure, the rise time to
 11

the half amplitude (τ1/2), three-fourths amplitude (τ3/4) and rise times from the ten percent to

ninety percent amplitude (τ10-90) were also electronically read for each measured signature and

are listed in Table 6 along with the other parameters and also on the supplemental electronic file.

 Launch Ascent Focus Boom Region Signatures 

A description of the launch-ascent focus boom region can be illustrated with figure 16. The origin

of the launch-ascent focus boom region is shown schematically in figure 16(a) When the Space

Shuttle first achieves supersonic velocities, it is in nearly vertical flight and the propagation of the

disturbance is upward, away from the ground. As the vehicle continues to accelerate and pitches

over, the flight path angle decreases sufficiently so that the disturbance propagation path intersects the ground surface. The combination of angular and linear acceleration rates results in a

region some 40 n.mi or so from the launch site in which the acoustical energy is focused, as indicated by the loci of focal areas shown in the profile view on figure 16(a). These loci define a focus

“line” which is parabolic in shape as depicted in figure 16(b) and extends laterally approximately

40 n.mi or so to each side of the vehicle ground track out to the lateral cutoffs. Beyond the lateral

cutoff the pressure wave is refracted up by the atmosphere and does not intersect the ground.

Behind (downrange from) the focus line, overpressure peaks originating from different points on

the flight path reach the ground at different times producing signatures with multiple peaks. The

area where these peaks begin to add together can be called the focus “zone.” In front of the focus

line, no sonic boom reaches the ground. The highest peak overpressure is obtained at the focus

line beneath the flight path and falls off both laterally from the ground track and downrange from

the focus line.

Sonic boom signatures, representative of those measured within the STS launch-ascent focus

region are shown in figure 17 along with an indication of the change in overpressure levels from

the pre- to post-focus boom regions. The uppermost signature was measured at a location in the

pre-focus region slightly uptrack (before) the focus line. The signature exhibits an initial shock

from the direct boom immediately followed by a second shock from the refracted shock a very

short time later. The signature shown at the center of figure 17 was measured within the focus line

and is seen to consist of sharp signal shock of large amplitude which may not represent the maximum value. A considerable database on focus booms associated with supersonic aircraft suggest

that the downrange “thickness” of the focus line is on the order of a few hundred feet. Downtrack,

behind the focus line, and in the post-focus region the measured signature shown at the bottom of

figure 17 also displays a two-shock trace, the initial shock being attributed to the direct boom and

the second the reflected shock arriving at a slightly later time and from a slightly different location

along the ascent trajectory.

The pre-focus, focus, and post-focus signatures are very similar to those observed from measurements acquired during Apollo 17 (ref. 3) mission and shown in figure 18. Six U. S. Naval vessels

were located in the Atlantic Ocean directly under the flight path of the launch vehicle and positioned to cover the extent of the focus region. Note that although two of the measurements were

near the focus line, the chart suggests that the values measured do not represent the maximum

overpressures within the focus line.
 12

 Reentry-Descent Signatures 

The upper two signatures shown in figure 19 (from ref. 37) were measured near the ground track

of STS-1 Orbiter during the reentry-descent phase of flight to landing at EAFB, California. Boom

origin occurred at about Mach 3.41 and 99,715 feet altitude for the Station 2 measurement and at

about Mach 1.4 and 62,658 feet altitude for the Station 9 measurement site. It can be observed that

both signatures are N-wave in character but with signs of atmospheric influences. Also shown on

each signature are predicted levels for the positive phase of the signature based upon Orbiter

wind-tunnel model data (ref. 20) extrapolated to full-scale and inserted into the Thomas propagation code (ref. 39). The comparison between measured and predicted signatures is quite good considering that the analytical tools developed for predicting boom signatures from supersonic

aircraft are limited in nature and apply quite well to the higher fineness ratios associated with aircraft capable of supersonic flight. The STS Orbiter is a blunt low fineness ratio vehicle that operates over a much higher Mach-altitude range than supersonic aircraft.

It is well known that signature rise time plays a significant role relative to the loudness of sonic

booms and thus people response (refs. 13, 43 and 44). In the original reporting of the signatures

from STS-1 (ref. 37), the boom signature was examined in more detail by greatly expanding the

time scale in the vicinity of the initial bow shock. These portions of the signatures are shown in

the lower portion of figure 19. Maximum rise times (τmax) of from about 3 and 5 msec are

observed and these are typical of those measured from supersonic aircraft (ref. 13).

Atmospheric effects. - It is known that turbulence, especially in the lower layers of the atmosphere can bring about significant variations to the normally observed N-wave boom signatures

from supersonic aircraft resulting in signatures that are “peaked” or “rounded.” Flight measurements (ref. 45) have also suggested that the variability decreases as vehicle Mach number

increases since the shock spends much less time and travels shorter distances in the turbulent

lower-layer of the earth’s boundary layer. As such, it was believed that boom signatures from the

STS Orbiter would be less influenced by the atmosphere, particularly at the higher Mach number

conditions. However, at Mach numbers less than about 3.0, similar signature distortions were

anticipated. This is what occurred.

In figure 20, three boom signatures measured during the descent of STS Orbiter at about Mach 3.6

and 100,000 feet altitude are shown. The signatures are basically N-wave in shape as depicted by

the middle trace and vary from a “peaked” to slightly “rounded” as shown by the top and bottom

traces. It is significant that, as in the case of aircraft boom signatures, that the shock-front distortions experienced by the bow shock are also duplicated on the tail shock. This has been found to

hold for aircraft boom signatures with periods (∆T) of from about 70 msec to 300 msec (ref. 10).

This suggests that the assumption that the turbulent portion of the atmosphere that brings about

these variations is “frozen,” is valid. It will be shown later in this section that for the STS Orbiter

signatures associated with very high altitudes this repeatable pattern did not occur. 

The three signatures presented in figure 20 have been designated peaked “P”, normal-peaked

“NP” and normal rounded “NR” by using the waveform categories established for boom signatures observed from aircraft (refs. 46, 47 and 48) and illustrated in figure 21.
 13

Waveform categories. A set of waveform categories has been established for aircraft sonic boom

flight test programs to reflect the character of the boom signature observed. These same ten waveform categories, illustrated in figure 21, are used to catalogue the signatures STS Orbiter reentrydescent phase of flight. In addition to the ten waveshapes, word descriptions are also given to

each of the categories by means of a single, two or three letter designation, for instance, a type

“NP” was judged to be intermediate between a type “N” normal N-waveform and a type “P”

peaked waveform. An “SPR” is a “spiked-peaked-rounded” signature. Such designators are

included on both the hard copy listings contained in Table 6 of this report and on the supplemental

electronic files. Thus, the three STS Orbiter signatures shown on figure 20 are given the waveform categories of peaked (P), normal-peaked (NP) and normal-rounded (NR).

Although the atmosphere influences the bow-shock associated with the STS launch-ascent signatures measured in the focus boom region, the basic signatures are not N-wave shape and thus they

are not assigned a “waveform category.” Rather they are designated as being located in the prefocus, focus, or post-focus region in Table 6. 

Influence of altitude. - Measured results from 10 of the 11 sonic boom sites in the California area

that were located along and laterally from the ground track on STS-26 reentry, are illustrated in

figure 22 (ref. 38). Boom measuring Site 5 was located at the predicted lateral cutoff and, as such,

did not receive a boom. Also shown on the figure is the Mach number and altitude at which the

boom was generated. Note that the ten signatures cover the range of Mach numbers from 4.57 to

3.18 and altitudes from about 115,000 feet to 95,000 feet. 

It can be seen that all signatures are fairly well organized, being N-wave in shape with fairly rapid

rise times on most and the signature periods vary from about 0.45 second to 0.68 second and overpressures from 0.61 psf to 1.28 psf. The signatures also show no signs of focussing due to the

Orbiter maneuvers. There are indications of atmospheric effects on the signatures, in particular,

Site 6 and Site 12, but all 10 signatures remain pretty much N-wave in character.

It should be noted, however, that at the high Mach-altitude conditions where the signature periods

are large, the nature of the bow and tail shocks differ (i.e., whatever peaking or rounding of the

bow shock resulting from atmospheric turbulence in the lower layers of the atmosphere, is usually

repeated at the tail shock). A similar observation is evident for the first two high Mach-altitude

on-track measured signatures on STS-1 reentry (ref. 37). This fact suggests that the previously

mentioned assumption of a “frozen” atmosphere does not apply in all cases. 

Sonic boom footprint. - In order to provide a more complete picture of the significance of these

mainland measured boom signatures, shown in figure 22, their overpressure levels will be compared with the predicted sonic boom overpressure ground footprint for this reentry flight using the

actual reentry track, operating conditions, and atmosphere. In figure 23 (ref. 38) is presented calculated sonic-boom contours of equal overpressure for the actual STS-26 reentry trajectory and

atmosphere. Also shown is the predicted lateral cutoff boundary beyond which no booms are

observed and the location of the 12-boom measurement sites and corresponding measured sonicboom levels.
 14

Note first of all that the contours of sonic-boom overpressure are not symmetrical about the

ground-track line as one would expect for a vehicle flying in steady-level flight. The distortions of

the contours result from the fact that orbiter is not flying at steady-level conditions along its

ground track. Rather, it enters the area at a roll angle of -40o

 makes a heading change involving a

roll to +40o along with flight-path and angle-of-attack changes (see fig. 8). The sonic-boom prediction program takes all these variations, that result in changes in loading on the vehicle, into

account as both “lift” and “volume” changes in the process of calculating sonic-boom overpressure.

Comparison of the measured bow-wave overpressure values to the predicted overpressure contours are in good agreement for all 11 sites. No boom focussing is evident and the lateral cutoff

was as predicted.

COMPARISON OF AIRCRAFT AND SPACECRAFT BOOMS

At this point in the discussion of reentry sonic boom signatures associated with the 122 foot-long,

200,000 pounds Orbiter, it would be of value to compare a few of them with measured boom signatures from aircraft such as the 200-foot long, 300,000 pound Concorde supersonic transport

(Ref. 49) and the 105-foot long, 100,000 pounds SR-71 (Ref. 46). These signatures, all drawn to

the same pressure and time scale are shown in figure 24. Note that all signatures are N-wave in

character and the Orbiter waveforms are not distinguished in any particular manner with the

exception of the longer wavelength (period). Overpressures vary from about 0.69 psf for the

Orbiter at Mach 6.0 at 129,000 feet to about 2.32 at Mach 1.76 and 70,690 feet and seem to fit in

with those associated with the other aircraft. It can be seen that as altitude increases, the signature

lengths, ∆T (periods) increase.

Figure 24 has shown that the sonic-boom signatures, measured for Orbiter reentry at Mach numbers from about 1.8 and 6.0 are very similar to those observed from aircraft in that they are Nwave in shape. An indication of how the Orbiter boom levels, taken from maximum values listed

in Table 7, vary with flight altitude and where they fit in with boom measurements from small and

large military aircraft, the Concorde supersonic transport, and previous Apollo capsule reentry

booms is given in figure 25. The data represent on-track measurements, those within + 3 n.mi of

the ground track.

It can be seen that the predicted trend of decreasing sonic boom overpressure with increasing altitude is reflected in the aircraft data up to 80,000 feet, in the Apollo capsule measurements up to

174,000 feet, and in the Orbiter results up to altitudes of about 250,000 feet. (Note that the two

Orbiter data points at about 195,000 feet and 250,000 feet altitude were at offset distances of

about 33 n.mi and 75 n.mi, respectively.) In addition, the larger the vehicle the greater the overpressure, varying from about 3.5 lbs/ft2 for the large XB-70 to about 1.0 lbs/ft2

 for the smaller

F104 fighter at the same altitude, then again to 0.2 lbs/ft2 for the even smaller Apollo capsule.

Orbiter overpressures vary from about 2.3 lbs/ft2 at 70,000 feet to about 0.7 lbs/ft2

 at 129,000

feet. In all cases, the data, and in particular Orbiter, all fit pretty much the same mold that has been

observed from aircraft over the past four decades.
 15

Also shown in figure 25 are sonic boom overpressures measured during the launch-ascent of the

Saturn-Apollo vehicle (refs. 1-3) and Space Shuttle (refs. 33, 34 and 36). These measured results

do not include overpressures very near or on the focus line. In addition, these ascent boom data

are plotted at the approximate altitude at which the booms originated. Previous plots, similar to

figure 25 (refs, 2,3, 38 and 50) are plotted at altitudes corresponding to the vehicle overhead position.

In general, the measured overpressures for the launch and ascent portion of spacecraft flights indicate the same trend of decreasing pressure with increasing altitude. However, the magnitudes of

the overpressure values are much greater than those of the reentry case. Since the launch vehicle

is considerably larger than the reentry vehicle, higher boom levels can be expected. The largest

portion of the increased overpressure from launch vehicle results from the “effective body” produced by the rocket exhaust plume. It is of interest to note that disturbances from Apollo rockets

in space were measured at ground level for the vehicle operating at altitudes up to about 600,000

feet (ref. 51). Simplified methods for prediction of spacecraft launch and reentry sonic booms are

discussed in references 19, 20 and 22.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

A significant sonic boom database relating to the launch-ascent and reentry-descent phases of the

Space Shuttle has been established, cataloged, and documented. The measured sonic boom signatures were obtained on 26 flights of the Space Shuttle beginning with the first launch of STS-1 on

April 12, 1981, to the reentry-descent of STS-41 into EAFB on October 10, 1990. A total of 23

boom measurements were acquired within the focus region off the Florida coast during 3 STS

launch-ascents and 113 boom measurements were acquired during 23 STS reentry-descents-tolanding into Florida and California. A total of 123 boom signatures were acquired, 20 on ascent

and 103 on reentry. These sonic boom measurements were made under and lateral to the vehicle

ground track and cover the Mach-altitude range of about 1.3 to 23 and 58,000 feet to 243,000 feet,

respectively. In addition to the measured sonic boom signatures, vehicle operational data, flight

profiles, and weather data were also gathered during the flights. This STS boom measurement

database is contained in 26 documents, a few of which are formal and referenceable, but most are

internal documents and not referenceable and also not readily available. Another 38 documents,

also non-referenceable, contain predicted sonic boom footprints for reentry-descent flights on

which no measurements were made.

The boom database consists of the measured signatures, signature characteristics which include

the maximum positive overpressures (∆po), total period (∆T), period of positive phase (∆to), positive impulse (Io), and bow shock rise time readings to the half-amplitude (τ1/2), three-fourths

amplitude (τ3/4), maximum amplitude (τmax) and from the ten to ninety percent amplitude 

(τ10-90). In addition, a waveform category is assigned each signature. The signature spectrum is

also available. Complementing the boom measurements are the flight trajectories and atmosphere

measurements.

The sonic boom database cited above, along with trajectory and weather information is contained

in a supplemental electronic file. Copies of the reports on each of the STS flights on which booms
 16

were measured were electronically scanned and are included on the supplemental CD along with

the reports containing predicted boom footprints for 38 STS reentry missions on which no boom

measurements were made.

For the launch ascent phase of flight, measurements were concentrated off the Florida Coast in an

area of the Atlantic Ocean, about 40 n.mi east of the launch site in order to define the magnitude

of the focus boom. Single shock pressure signatures, similar to blast explosion waveforms, with

periods of about 2.0 seconds to 8.0 seconds, were observed with overpressure levels ranging from

about 0.4psf in the pre- and post-focus region to 6.81 psf along the focus line. The nature of the

focus region and signature characteristics is quite similar to those obtained during launch-ascent

of the Apollo-Saturn vehicle. In each case, the predictive tools were suitable to define the location

and extent of the focus region.

For the reentry-descent phase of flight, the measurements were made on land with the majority

acquired in the state of California and about 25 percent in the state of Florida. The measured

boom signatures were generally N-wave in character, similar to those observed from supersonic

aircraft with amplitudes ranging from about 0.10 psf from the vehicle at about 243,000 feet altitude to a maximum of 2.32 psf just prior to landing. Signature periods, however, were much

greater than those observed on aircraft being on the order of about 0.40 second to about 2.5 seconds. Predictions of the magnitude of sonic booms and ground footprints for Mach numbers to

about 6.0 compared favorably with measurements.

Even though the Orbiter performs maneuvers during the reentry descent phase of flight, particularly roll angle and heading, they were not predicted to result in focus booms at the ground and

none were observed. Atmospheric turbulence, especially in the lower layers of the atmosphere,

result in peaking or rounding of the N-wave signatures similar to what has been observed from

aircraft in supersonic flight where the changes to the bow-shock are repeated on the tail shock. It

is observed, however, that when the Orbiter is at very high altitudes where the signature periods

are large and overpressures relatively low that the bow and tail shock distortions resulting from

the atmosphere sometimes differ.
 17

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 18

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41. Patterson, Donald W.: Sonic Boom Limitations on Supersonic Aircraft Operations. Aero/

Space Engineering, pp. 22-24 and 40-45, July 1960.

42. Hubbard, Harvey H.’ Maglieri, Domenic J.; Huckel, Vera; and Hilton, David A.: Ground

Measurements of Sonic-Boom Pressures for the Altitude Range of 10,000 to 75,000 Feet.

NASA TR-R-198, 1964.
 19

43. McCurdy, David A.; Subjective Response to Sonic Booms having Difference Shapes, Rise

Times, and Durations. NASA TM 109090, March 1994.

44. Shepherd, K. P.; and Sullivan, B. M.: A Loudness Calculation Procedure Applied to Shaped

Sonic Booms. NASA TP-3134, 1991.

45. Maglieri, Domenic J; Huckel, Vera; Henderson, Herbert R.; and McLeod, Norman, J.: Variability in Sonic Boom Signatures Measured Along an 8000-Foot Linear Array. NASA TN D5040, 1969.

46. Maglieri, Domenic J.; Huckel, Vera; and Henderson, Herbert R.: Sonic Boom Measurements

for SR-71 Aircraft Operating at Mach Numbers to 3.0 and Altitudes to 24,384 Meters. NASA

TN D-6823, 1972.

47. Maglieri, Domenic J. and Sothcott, Victor E.: Summary of Sonic Boom Rise Times Observed

During FAA Community Response Studies Over a 6-Month Period in the Oklahoma City

Area. NASA CR 4277, 1980.

48. Maglieri, Domenic J.; Sothcott, Victor E.; and Keefer, Thomas N.: A Summary of XB-70

Sonic Boom Signature Data. NASA CR-189630, April 1992.

49. Holbeche, T.: Measurements of Sonic Bangs from the Prototype Concorde 002 During Supersonic Development of Flying in the United Kingdom. Royal Aircraft Establishment Tech. 

Memo, Aero. 1405, 1972. 

50. Maglieri, Domenic J.; and Plotkin, Kenneth: Sonic Boom, Chapter 10, pp. 519-561. Aeroacoustics of Flight Vehicles: theory and Practice, NASA RP-1258, Vol. I and WRDC TR 90-

3052, August 1991.

51. Cotten, Donald; and Donn, William L.: Sound From Apollo Rockets in Space. Science, Vol.

171, No. 3971, Feb. 12, 1971, pp. 565-567.
 20

APPENDIX

DESCRIPTON OF SUPPLEMENTAL STS SONIC BOOM ELECTRONIC FILES

A complete listing of all STS sonic boom material addressed in this hard copy report has been

electronically cataloged on a single supplemental CD. Figure A-1 presents a description of STS

sonic boom electronic files which includes this hard copy report, the 26 STS missions on which

boom measurements were obtained and the 39 STS descent missions on which boom footprints

were predicted but no measurements were made. For the STS missions on which sonic boom

ground footprints were calculated, but no measurements were made, the files contain the one to

two page report containing the text and predicted ground footprint for each of the 38 reentry

flights.

 

With each STS mission on which boom measurements were made, the files include the STS

report, corresponding ascent or reentry trajectory, available weather data, sonic boom signature

pressure time history of each measurement station for that specific mission, the boom signature

characteristics (∆po, ∆T, ∆to, Io, τ1/2, τ3/4, τmax and τ10-90 and waveform category) and the sonic

boom signature spectrum. A description of the algorithm used to provide the information on electronic file follows:

 Description of Algorithm

The waveform characteristics were calculated by computer algorithm except for waveform category, which was done manually. Digital data, either from the raw PATS files or from the electronically scanned signatures, were stored in an array of time and pressure. The array was searched to

find the maximum (∆po) and minimum pressures and their corresponding times. Intermediate

pressure values were calculated included 10%, 50%, 75% and 90% of the maximum value. The

Figure A-1. - Description of STS Sonic Boom Electronic File.
 21

array was then searched backwards in time from the maximum pressure value. As each point in the

pressure signature was examined, it was compared with the 10%, 50%, 75% and 90% values. If the

pressure was greater than these thresholds, the time was saved for corresponding threshold. This has

the effect of saving the earliest time that each threshold is exceeded. The most difficult point to reliably determine was the onset of the shock. This was not defined as the point at which the pressure

signature reaches zero, since ambient noise may keep the pressure above zero for an arbitrary time.

Instead, for the purposes of the automated algorithm, the onset of the shock was defined as when the

rate of pressure increase between two successive points fall to approximately 0.0075 psf/0.000125

seconds and the pressure level was below 10% of the maximum level.

τmax is then the difference in time between the onset of the shock and the time that the maximum

pressure was recorded. Similarly, τ1/2 and τ3/4 are the differences between onset and the first joint

where the signature exceeds 50% or 75% of the maximum pressure, respectively. τ10-90 is the difference in time between the first point at which 10% of the maximum pressure is reached and the first

point at which 90% of the maximum pressure is reached. The total period (∆T) also requires the time

of the trailing or return shock. Since the return shock often does not return immediately to zero pressure, the time of the return shock was chosen to be the point where pressures rise above 50% of the

minimum pressure. ∆T is then the time between the onset of the initial shock and the defined time of

the return shock.

To calculate the positive impulse (Io) of the N-wave, the time/pressure array was searched from the

onset of the initial shock to the time of the minimum pressure. Any data point in the array, with a

pressure greater than zero, was multiplied by the time between successive points and the sum of

these positive pressure/delta time values is the total positive impulse. The period of the positive

phase (∆to) is the time between the onset of the initial shock and the first point in time when the

pressure level fell back to a negative value.

The spectrum files were produced using a standard Fast Fourier Transform (FFT0 algorithm)

adapted from a program published in “Byte Magazine,” December 1978 by W. D. Stanley and S. J.

Peterson.

Each measured boom signature was examined and assigned one of the ten waveform categories

depicted in figure 21 of this report. Since the signatures acquired during the three launch-ascent

flights were not N-wave in character, they are not assigned a “waveform category.” Rather, they are

designated as being measurements at locations before the focus (pre-focus), near the focus, at focus

and after the focus (post focus) region.

Comparison of Signature Characteristics

Both the analog SBDA and digital PATS measurement systems had frequency response characteristics that permitted definition of the sonic boom signature rise time to about 100 μsec. Of the 123

measured signatures, 38 were from the SBDA analog systems and 85 from the PATS digital systems.

Sixty-two of the digital signatures were processed directly to acquire boom characteristics. Hard

copies of the remaining 61 signatures (38 analog and 23 digital) were electronically scanned.

Although the hard copy signatures, which varied in length from about 2 to 4 inches, were scanned at

the rate of 800 points per inch. the actual signature resolution is dictated by the quality of the hard

copy signature, its “noisiness” and especially the thickness of the line tracing. This is illustrated with

the aid of figure A2 in which is presented the two N-wave measured signatures during STS-33 reentry.
 22

At Site 1, a “normal peaked (NP)” waveform is experienced and at Site 2 a “peaked (P)” waveform. In each case, the solid line represents the signature resulting from the original digital 

 

(a) Site 1, U5MBO, Santa Barbara, California.

 (b) Site 2, U1MBO Ojai, Califronia.

Figure A2 - Comparison of scanned to digital signature for STS-33 reentry.
 23

recording and the dashed line is the results of scanning. It is obvious that the digital and scanned

traces are essentially coincident. However, when portions of each of the two signatures are examined in greater detail, differences are noted to exist. The traces presented in the lower portion of

figures A-2 (a) and (b) represent two portions of the complete signatures with a greatly expanded

pressure and time scale, the trace on the lower left at a time prior to the arrival of the initial shock

and the trace to the right at a time that captures the initial shock.

Note that the presence of “system noise” in the original digital trace is not matched in the scanned

signature. Rather, scanning tends to seek out the peak values. As such, the initial starting point

(∆p) to reading the initial shock overpressure and shock rise times are somewhat altered from that

obtained from a manual reading by as much as 0.03 psf in the two examples shown. 

Comparison of the original and scanned traces for the expanded traces containing the initial shock

shows that for the “normal-peaked” signature of Site 1, although the two traces appear comparable, there is a noticeable time shift of the scanned trace to the left. However, the maximum overpressure readings are the same. For the peaked signature of Site 2 the two traces are almost

coincident and the scanned signature is shifted slightly to the left. However, there is an observable

difference in the maximum overpressure readings. Since the scanner will read only to the amplitude where “daylight” no longer exists (∆p = 1.75 psf) it will not acquire the maximum overpressure defined by the “spike” at the top of the bow shock (∆p = 1.94 psf). 

An indication of effects of the differences noted between the original digital and scanned data on

the sonic boom signature characteristics for the two measurements from STS-33 are illustrated in

Table A-1.

Table A1. - Comparison of Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics for STS-33 Reentry.

Good agreement is noted to exist between the digital and scanned signatures relative to the maximum positive overpressure (∆po), signature period (∆T), signature positive duration (∆to) and

positive impulse (Io). The differences in rise for the half, three-fourths and maximum readings,

however, ranged from about 20 percent to 50 percent. A lesser variation exists in the τ10-90 readings (about 10 to 20 percent).

In the documentation of the boom signatures acquired on STS-1 (ref. 37) and STS-26 (ref. 38), in

addition to presenting the measured signatures and tabulations of the maximum overpressure and,

in some cases, the signature durations, the initial portion of the signature was presented on a time

Site Method

∆po

(psf)

∆T

(sec)

∆to

(sec)

Io

(lb/ft2sec

τ1/2

(msec)

τ3/4

(msec)

τmax

(msec)

τ10-90

(msec)

Santa

Barbara

Scanned

Original

recording

1.13

1.13

0.562

0.564

0.264

0.264

0.150

0.145

1.60

2.02

2.40

3.41

4.80

6.05

3.80

4.16

Ojai Scanned

Original

recording

1.75

1.94

0.537

0.539

0.251

0.251

0.120

0.126

2.00

3.89

3.30

4.64

4.10

5.77

3.30

4.01
 24

scale that was expanded by a factor of about 16 in order to provide significantly more detail of the

signature shock rise times. Thus, it is possible to also examine the difference in rise time readings

obtained from these hard copy traces and those resulting from the electronic readout of the

scanned-digitized signatures. The results are shown on Table A-2 and Table A-3.

Table A-2. - Comparison Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics From STS-1 reentry.

Table A-3. - Comparison Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics From STS-26 reentry.

Meas.

Station

∆po, psf ∆T, sec ∆to, sec τ1/2, msec τ3/4, msec τmax, msec τ10-90, msec

manua

l

electronic manual

electronic manual electronic manual electronic manual electronic manual electronic manual electronic

Call. (0) 0.69 0.70 0.680 0.680 0.349 0.347 1.40 1.60 2.50 2.90 9.60 21.30 3.50 3.60

(1) 1.22 1.23 0.565 0.562 0.260 0.264 0.90 0.50 2.30 2.10 5.20 26.90 3.40 3.00

(2) 0.93 0.92 0.516 0.508 0.280 0.284 1.20 1.30 2.60 3.00 5.90 4.70 3.20 3.30

(3) 1.14 1.15 0.460 0.463 0.260 0.267 1.70 2.00 4.00 9.40 22.50 44.90 16.00 20.00

(4) 1.60 1.56 0.443 0.443 0.230 0.232 1.60 1.70 2.60 2.60 7.20 6.10 4.20 3.20

(5) 1.63 1.60 0.400 0.397 0.220 0.215 0.40 0.80 0.70 1.10 7.50 7.40 3.00 3.70

(6) 2.40 2.32 0.390 0.388 0.210 0.212 0.50 1.30 0.60 1.60 4.00 3.70 2.80 2.20

(7) 1.96 1.94 0.370 0.379 0.192 0.201 0.40 0.80 0.60 1.10 14.00 14.10 3.00 2.60

(8) 1.81 1.78 0.380 0.382 0.201 0.207 0.40 1.50 0.60 1.80 4.90 5.00 3.60 3.70

(9) 2.26 2.16 0.370 0.372 0.199 0.201 1.60 1.60 2.50 2.00 3.00 2.60 2.00 1.70

(10) 1.86 1.86 0.375 0.372 0.202 0.208 0.50 0.80 0.80 1.10 3.40 3.30 1.00 0.90

Kauai, Hawaii 0.10 0.10 2.630 2.454 1.340 1.305 15.00 12.00 100.00 95.50 135.00 124.50 105.00 102.00

Santa Barbara, 

Ca.

1.06 1.07 0.620 0.619 0.320 0.314 2.00 2.25 3.10 3.12 7.00 7.87 3.50 4.62

Ventura, Ca. 0.65 0.65 0.660 0.661 0.360 0.352 1.20 2.20 2.50 3.00 12.00 25.20 4.50 10.60

Oxnard, Ca. 0.70 0.68 0.675 0.676 0.355 0.365 1.30 2.40 3.10 4.00 23.00 24.60 12.00 14.90

Lake Sherwood, 

Ca. Beyond lateral-cutoff

Santa

Paula, Ca.

1.05 1.04 0.652 0.641 0.325 0.313 6.00 4.80 23.00 28.10 40.00 41.40 27.00 30.10

Oak Flat , Ca. 0.61 0.61 0.540 0.535 0.265 0.260 2.00 1.40 3.30 2.70 5.30 6.00 3.00 3.30

Lions Canyon, 

Ca.

1.04 1.04 0.580 0.572 0.278 0.272 1.00 1.00 2.00 1.90 5.20 20.70 2.50 3.90

Gold Hill, Ca. 1.14 1.19 0.455 0.453 0.235 0.231 1.00 1.12 1.80 1.68 4.00 4.14 2.70 2.57

Pine Mountain, 

Ca.

1.15 1.16 0.540 0.543 0.252 0.261 1.90 2.09 2.90 3.03 3.60 3.87 2.30 2.82

Wheeler Ridge, 

Ca.

1.28 1.28 0.520 0.519 0.260 0.224 1.00 0.86 1.40 1.40 2.60 2.59 1.50 1.40

Conner, Ca. 0.82 0.82 0.593 0.593 0.285 0.284 1.10 1.14 1.80 1.48 3.0 2.63 1.70 1.60
 25

Listed in each table are the maximum positive overpressure (∆Po), signature period (∆T), signature positive duration (∆to) and signature rise times in milliseconds to the half overpressure amplitude (τ1/2), three quarters amplitude (τ3/4), maximum amplitude (τmax) and from the 10 percent to

90 percent amplitude (τ10-90) for the 11 signatures on STS-1 and 11 signatures on STS-26.

Once again, good agreement is noted to exist between the manual and electronic read signatures

relative to the maximum overpressure (∆po), signature period (∆T) and signature positive duration

(∆to). The differences in rise times are in reasonable agreement for signatures that are least distorted by the atmosphere, or are almost void of system noise, thus making the selection of the 1/2,

3/4, maximum and 10 percent to 90 percent amplitudes more accurate. It is again noted that the

signature characteristic listings in Table 6 are those resulting from the electronic readout of the

original digitized data from the PATS digital measurements systems and the electronically

scanned hard copy signatures of the SBDAS analog measurement systems (in addition to those

hard copy PATS signatures that were also scanned since the original digital data was not available).
Table 1. - Listing of STS Missions on Which Sonic Boom Measurements Were Acquire

STS

MSN

Launch Sonic Booms Measured during: No. Sonic Boom Meas. Obtained Measurement array Approximate Flight Conditions at which booms were generated Mach Number Altitude, kft. 

Site Date Time, Z Ascent Reentry Ascent Reentry Ascent Reentry Ascent Reentry Ascent Reentry Site 

1 KSC 4-12-81 12:00:03 x 11 Grd.Trk 6.0/1.3 129/58 EAF

2 KSC 11-12-81 15:09:59 x 4 Grd.Trk 2.4/1.5 80/65 EAF4 KSC 6-27-82 14:59:59 x 4 Lateral 3.3 97 EAF

5 KSC 11-11-82 12:19:00 x 1 Foc. Reg. 3.5 112 EAF

7 KSC 6-18-83 11;33:00 x 7 Foc.Reg. 3.5/4.0 140/150 EAF

41-B KSC 2-03-84 13:00:00 x 14 Lat.&Grd.Trk 4.2/3.3 108/95 KSC 

41-D KSC 8-30-84 12:41:50 x 15 Foc.Reg. 3.5/4.0 150/170 EAF

41-G KSC 10-05-84 11:03:00 x 8 Lat.&Grd.Trk 2.7/1.6 86/66 KSC 

51-A KSC 11-08-84 12:15:00 x 7 Lat.&Grd.Trk 15/1.3 191/59 KSC 

51-C KSC 1-24-85 19-50:00 x 5 Lat.&Grd.Trk 2.2/1.4 77/60 KSC 

51-D KSC 4-12-85 13:59:05 x 5 Lat.&Grd.Trk. 4.8/1.5 118/59 KSC 

51-G KSC 6-17-85 11:33:00 x 3 Lateral 4.0 106 EAF

51-F KSC 7-29-85 21:00:00 x 3 Lateral 3.6 99 EAF

51-I KSC 8-27-85 10:58:01 x 2 Lateral 4.0 108 EAF

61-A KSC 10-30-85 17:00:00 x 3 Lateral 3.1 93 EAF

26 KSC 9-29-88 15:37:00 x 12 Lateral 23/3.1 243/95 EAF

27 KSC 12-02-88 14:30:33 x 3 Lateral 13/5.0 186/124 EAF

29 KSC 3-13-89 14:57:00 x 2 Lat.&Grd.Trk. 4.2 108 EAF

30 KSC 5-04-89 18:46:59 x 2 Lateral 4.5 113 EAF

28 KSC 8-08-89 12:37:00 x 12 Lat.&Grd.Trk 3.9/3.0 103/91 EAF

34 KSC 10-18-89 16:53:40 x 2 Lat.&Grd.Trk 3.6 100 EAF33 KSC 11-22-89 00:23:30 x 2 Lat.&Grd.Trk 4.3/3.8 111/95 EAF

32 KSC 1-09-90 12:35:00 x 2 Lat.&Grd.Trk 4.1 104 EAF

36 KSC 2-28-90 07:50:22 x 2 Lateral 3.1 95 EAF

31 KSC 4-24-90 12:33:51 x 3 Lat.&Grd.Trk 3.9 105 EAF

41 KSC 10-06-90 11:47:14 x 2 Lat.&Grd.Trk 4.5 114 EAF

Notes: 1. Total STS MSN on which sonic booms measured = 26 (3 ascent, 23 reentry)

2. Total boom signature measurements = 136 (23 ascent, 113 reentry)
Table 2. LISTING OF STS MISSIONS ON WHICH DESCENT SONIC BOOM GROUND 

 FOOTPRINTS WERE PREDICTED BUT NO MEASUREMENTS WERE MADE

MSN

Number

Date Descent Footprint

Launch Landing Approximate Ground Track Land Area Involved Lan

STS-3 3-22-82 3-30-82 W-E Arizona-New Mexico WSTS-6 4-4-83 4-9-83 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB EdwSTS-8 8-30-83 9-5-83 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-9 11-28-83 12-8-83 N-S Bakersfield-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-41-C 4-6-84 4-13-84 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-51-B 4-29-85 5-6-85 S-N Los Angeles-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-51-J 10-3-85 10-7-85 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-61-B 11-26-85 12-3-85 S-N Mexico-California Edw

STS-61-C 1-12-86 1-18-86 W-E Ventura-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-38 11-15-90 11-20-90 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-35 12-2-90 12-11-90 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-37 4-5-91 4-11-91 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-39 4-28-91 5-6-91 NW-SE Ocala-Titusville Kenned

STS-40 6-5-91 6-14-91 W-E Rosamond-Edwards AFB EdwSTS-43 8-2-91 8-11-91 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-48 9-12-91 9-18-91 N-S Rosamond-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-44 11-24-91 12-1-91 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-42 1-22-92 1-30-92 W-E Santa Barbara-Edwards AFB EdwSTS-45 3-24-92 4-2-92 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-49 5-7-92 5-16-92 W-E Ventura-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-50 6-25-92 7-9-92 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-46 7-31-92 8-8-92 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-47 9-12-92 9-20-92 WSW-ENE Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-52 10-22-92 11-1-92 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-53 12-2-92 12-9-92 N-S Washington-California EdwSTS-54 1-13-93 1-19-93 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-56 4-8-93 4-17-93 N-S Daytona Beach-Titusville Kenned

STS-55 4-26-93 5-6-93 W-E Ventura-Edwards AFB EdwSTS-57 6-21-93 7-1-93 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-51 9-12-93 9-22-93 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned

STS-58 10-18-93 11-1-93 NW-SE Rosamond-Edwards AFB Edw

STS-61 12-2-93 12-13-93 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenned
STS-60 2-3-94 2-11-94 NW-SE Ocala-Titusville Kenne

STS-65 7-8-94 7-23-94 W-E Orlando-Titusville Kenne

STS-64 9-9-94 9-20-94 S-N Mexico-California Ed

STS-68 9-30-94 10-11-94 N-S Oregon-California EdSTS-66 11-3-94 11-14-94 S-N Mexico-California Ed

STS-63 2-3-95 2-11-95 WNW-SE Ocala-Titusville Kenne

MSN

Number

Date Descent Footprint

Launch Landing Approximate Ground Track Land Area Involved La

Table 2. - Concluded.
Table 3. - SELECTED PARAMETERS FROM PREFLIGHT LAUNCH TRAJECTORY DATA F

Time from 

lift-off, sec.

Down range 

distance from 

lift-off, n.mi.

Mach No. Altitude, ft. Latitude, deg. Longitude, deg. Heading, de

50 2 1.09 26511 28.609 80.569 89.425 

55 2 1.23 31643 28.609 80.560 89.415 

60 3 1.39 37184 28.610 80.548 89.354 

65 4 1.58 43209 28.610 80.536 89.376 

70 5 1.80 49797 28.610 80.521 89.340 

75 6 2.04 57098 28.610 80.505 89.386 

80 7 2.29 65213 28.610 80.486 89.397 

85 7.8 2.55 74122 28.610 80.463 89.444 

90 9 2.76 83733 28.610 80.437 89.495 

95 10 3.05 93954 28.611 80.407 89.537 

100 13 3.25 104746 28.611 80.373 89.592 

105 15 3.48 116059 28.611 80.335 89.678 

110 17 3.74 127838 28.611 80.292 89.761 115 20 3.77 139898 28.611 80.246 89.786 

120 22 3.77 151902 28.611 80.198 89.841 

125 25 3.85 163678 28.610 80.148 89.905 

130 27 3.81 175219 28.610 80.097 89.998 

135 30 3.99 186544 28.610 80.045 90.086 

140 33 4.06 197599 28.609 79.991 90.134 

145 36 4.29 208358 28.609 79.935 90.174 

150 37 4.56 218791 28.608 79.877 90.143 

155 43 4.69 228871 28.608 79.755 90.118 160 45 4.73 238602 28.607 79.755 90.097 

165 48 4.94 247989 28.607 79.691 90.080 

170 52 5.14 257033 28.606 79.625 90.073 

175 56 5.28 265736 28.606 79.557 90.068 

180 60 5.57 274101 28.606 79.487 90.068 

185 63 5.65 282132 28.605 79.414 90.073 

190 67 5.74 289831 28.605 79.339 90.083 

195 72 5.80 297203 28.604 79.262 90.095 

200 75 5.77 304252 28.604 79.182 80.110 
Table 4. - SELECTED PARAMETERS FROM DESCENT TRAJECTORY FOR STS-5

Mach No.

Time to 

Mach 1.0

sec.

Altiitude, 

ft.

Flight

 Path Angle, 

deg.

Latitude, 

deg.

Longitude, 

deg.

Heading, 

deg.

Roll angle, 

deg.

A

8.95907 420 158314 -1.19524 29.3679 -86.2253 96.3235 50.5614 8.68121 410 156314 -1.37885 29.3371 -85.9485 98.178 54.532 8.37793 400 154025 -1.63877 29.2998 -85.6845 100.136 53.7088 

8.11317 390 151539 -1.70467 29.256 -85.428 101.937 42.8385 

7.82902 380 149190 -1.74665 29.2083 -85.1862 103.696 46.0986 7.57303 370 146806 -1.83826 29.155 -84.9513 105.612 44.5092 

7.30118 360 144437 -194001 29.098 -84.7311 107.521 46.3127 

7.05923 350 142539 -2.14253 29.0309 -84.5296 109.617 48.5531 6.82228 340 140680 -2.31563 28.9638 -84.3295 111.715 44.3806 6.56869 330 137979 -2.41586 28.8952 -84.1363 113.808 37.0087 6.33766 320 135474 -1.94427 28.8196 -83.9561 114.441 -20.8141 

6.0965 310 133444 -2.10646 28.756 -83.7776 112.546 -51.8941 5.8816 300 131546 -2.66413 28.6926 -83.6057 110.156 -50.6593 

5.66925 290 129198 -2.9178 28.6411 -83.4382 107.834 -42.3189 5.43471 280 126594 -2.77231 28.5976 -83.2725 105.733 -34.1486 5.23339 270 124106 -2.8029 28.5599 -83.1118 103.435 -43.8817 

5.0196 260 121550 -3.14689 28.5308 -82.958 100.721 -46.4099 

4.82614 250 118758 -3.42497 28.5096 -82.8065 97.7719 -42.3867 4.61526 240 116038 -3.53706 28.4952 -82.6649 94.9221 -40.8225 

4.4292 230 113208 -3.64243 28.4873 -82.5219 91.8969 -40.9353 

4.24544 220 110350 -3.67471 28.4864 -82.3889 88.8543 -37.2814 4.04062 210 107625 -3.5906 28.4921 -82.2602 85.7006 -41.3053 3.86455 200 104791 -3.9438 28.5022 -82.1397 82.1986 -42.9558 3.67045 190 101866 -4.28751 28.5181 -82.028 78.5342 -416431 

 3.49675 180 98950.9 -4.55099 28.5407 -81.9176 74.6453 -38.9657 

3.32291 170 96325.8 -4.24966 28.5713 -81.8167 71.607 -8.12863 3.13319 160 94218.8 -3.65355 28.5992 -81.7227 73.4529 39.0217 2.96756 150 92060.2 -4.40504 28.6235 -81.6312 77.8442 41.1733 2.79061 140 89573.5 -5.18991 28.637 -81.5443 82.4161 39.3529 2.63474 130 86886.9 -5.93276 28.645 -81.4604 87.211 40.0585 2.60907 120 83956.5 -7.01765 28.6453 -81.3824 92.7018 37.3752 2.34545 110 81108.6 -6.13124 28.6403 -81.3082 95.4627 4.57274 2.14666 100 78786.9 -4.74173 28.6346 -81.2404 96.0408 1.0723 2.01968 90 76916.6 -4.52202 28.6289 -81.1765 96.3126 2.16596 
1.93965 80 75234.5 -5.52419 28.6231 -81.118 96.5111 1.03168 

1.84952 70 73276.6 -7.48386 28.6172 -81.0626 96.6711 0.980289 1.71327 60 70747.7 -9.52742 28.612 -81.0119 96.8403 -1.57261 1.59184 50 67931.2 -11.0749 28.6069 -80.9639 96.8348 0.373873 1.49226 40 65350.3 -12.0958 28.6012 -80.9197 96.8495 -0.420581 1.36409 30 62273.6 -13.6316 28.5971 -80.8786 96.7742 -1.69507 1.24941 20 59223.9 -14.6473 28.5933 -80.841 96.1534 -4.73904 1.16154 10 56155.6 -15.2323 28.5902 -80.8056 96.0995 2.76422 1.00752 0 53176.2 -15.2304 28.5871 -80.7738 97.873 -0.612767 

Mach No.

Time to 

Mach 1.0

sec.

Altiitude, 

ft.

Flight

 Path Angle, 

deg.

Latitude, 

deg.

Longitude, 

deg.

Heading, 

deg.

Roll angle, 

deg.

A

Table 4. - Concluded.
Height

(ft.)

Wind 

Speed

(ft./sec.)

Wind 

Dir.

(DG)

Temp.

(DG C)

Pressure

(mb)

Dew Pt.

(DG C) 

Height

(ft.)

Wind 

Speed

(ft./sec.)

Wind Dir.

(DG)

Temp.

(DG C)

Pressure

(mb)

Dew Pt.(DG C) 

Height

(ft.)

Wind 

Speed

(ft./sec.)

W

D

(D

21 1 110 26.2 1017. 22.3 67000 39 076 -60.0 54.33 134000 91 1

1000 0 138 23.7 983.3 22.0 68000 41 075 -59.8 51.76 135000 89 12000 0 233 21.8 949.7 20.3 69000 44 079 -59.2 49.32 136000 86 13000 1 256 19.9 917.0 16.7 70000 46 087 -58.6 47.00 137000 84 14000 2 263 18.0 885.2 12.5 71000 47 091 -57.7 44.80 138000 82 15000 2 265 16.3 854.3 10.8 72000 46 091 -57.6 42.70 139000 77 16000 3 267 14.1 824.2 10.3 73000 44 090 -58.1 40.70 140000 76 07000 8 255 11.6 795.0 9.6 74000 44 088 -58.1 38.80 141000 72 08000 3 244 9.0 766.6 6.7 75000 47 088 -56.9 36.98 142000 77 09000 14 285 8.6 739.0 -5.0 76000 50 089 -56.7 35.26 143000 91 0

10000 15 277 8.3 712.2 -11.9 77000 51 090 -56.0 33.62 144000 113 0

11000 14 268 7.8 686.5 -14.2 78000 52 093 -54.5 32.07 145000 119 0

12000 8 257 6.4 661.5 -14.3 79000 53 096 -53.4 30.59 146000 138 013000 9 299 4.2 637.4 -12.1 80000 54 101 -52.8 29.19 147000 165 014000 15 281 2.1 613.9 -10.1 81000 55 106 -50.8 27.86 148000 158 015000 11 280 0.0 591.1 -11.1 82000 55 109 -50.1 26.60 149000 143 016000 8 245 -1.7 569.1 -13.6 83000 55 110 -48.2 25.41 150000 126 117000 8 262 -3.7 547.7 -14.9 84000 54 108 -46.4 24.27 151000 101 118000 12 292 -5.7 526.9 -15.4 85000 52 104 -49.2 23.19 152000 82 119000 13 281 -8.1 506.8 -16.1 86000 53 095 -49.4 22.15 153000 86 120000 12 287 -10.2 487.3 -19.7 87000 56 087 -49.3 21.15 154000 91 121000 15 265 -11.7 468.5 -25.5 88000 60 081 -49.2 20.20 155000 86 122000 15 281 -13.5 450.2 -27.2 89000 64 079 -49.0 19.29 156000 82 123000 21 277 -15.0 432.5 -28.5 90000 67 079 -48.7 18.42 157000 97 024000 16 268 -17.1 415.4 -29.3 91000 70 079 -48.3 17.60 158000 92 025000 16 270 -19.5 398.9 -29.2 92000 75 081 -48.0 16.81 159000 82 026000 29 283 -21.8 382.8 -28.8 93000 80 082 -46.6 16.06 160000 104 027000 32 285 -23.8 367.3 -29.8 94000 85 085 -45.6 15.35 161000 136 028000 31 279 -26.1 352.3 -33.9 95000 89 089 -46.0 14.67 162000 157 029000 29 266 -28.0 337.8 -38.8 96000 91 093 -45.9 14.02 163000 145 030000 31 287 -30.2 323.7 -41.2 97000 92 095 -45.2 13.40 164000 135 031000 23 303 -32.3 310.2 -44.5 98000 89 095 -43.9 12.81 165000 124 032000 28 299 -34.8 297.0 -47.4 99000 92 094 -42.8 12.34 166000 119 1

Table 5. - Summary of STS-41D Atmospheric Profiles.
33000 26 290 -37.4 284.3 -46.8 100000 99 097 -41.7 11.80 167000 104 11

34000 25 279 -39.8 272.1 -47.6 101000 101 099 -40.6 11.29 168000 109 1235000 28 282 -42.1 260.2 -49.9 102000 99 100 -39.5 10.80 169000 106 1236000 29 281 -44.4 248.7 -52.3 103000 94 101 -38.5 10.33 170000 92 1437000 31 280 -46.9 237.7 -54.4 104000 87 101 -37.5 9.892 171000 79 1538000 30 266 -49.4 227.0 -56.4 105000 81 100 -36.6 9.470 172000 64 1639000 40 261 -52.0 216.6 -58.6 106000 79 098 -36.1 9.068 173000 54 1840000 42 265 -54.6 206.7 -60.8 107000 79 094 -36.2 8.683 174000 38 2041000 40 262 -57.1 197.1 -62.9 108000 81 090 -36.6 8.313 175000 23 2142000 41 262 -59.6 187.8 109000 82 088 -37.0 7.959 176000 18 30

43000 39 266 -62.1 178.9 110000 84 087 -37.3 7.620 177000 43 33

44000 40 265 -64.4 170.3 111000 86 084 -37.1 7.295 178000 62 3445000 42 268 -65.9 162.0 112000 84 083 -36.1 6.985 179000 59 35

46000 37 287 -66.7 154.1 113000 81 080 -35.1 6.689 180000 45 01

47000 32 294 -68.4 146.5 114000 79 075 -34.1 6.407 181000 40 05

48000 17 303 -68.7 139.3 115000 76 071 -33.1 6.138 182000 54 06

49000 17 297 -69.2 132.4 116000 74 064 -32.2 5.881 183000 60 07

50000 20 197 -67.2 125.9 117000 76 063 -32.0 5.636 184000 50 05

51000 20 181 -66.2 119.8 118000 77 066 -32.9 5.400 185000 59 03

52000 14 176 -67.3 113.9 119000 82 072 -33.7 5.173 186000 84 0353000 8 075 -65.6 108.4 120000 87 080 -33.7 4.956 187000 108 03

54000 2 076 -65.2 103.1 121000 89 086 -33.6 4.748 188000 143 05

55000 10 084 -65.4 98.09 122000 94 090 -33.0 4.549 189000 152 06

56000 9 114 -65.9 93.32 123000 96 092 -31.9 4.359 190000 158 07

57000 7 119 -65.9 88.78 124000 97 089 -30.6 4.178 191000 168 08

58000 19 117 -65.3 84.47 125000 101 087 -29.4 4.005 192000 168 08

59000 20 116 -65.2 80.37 126000 101 087 -28.8 3.840 193000 141 09

60000 21 098 -64.7 76.48 127000 99 087 -29.3 3.682 194000 135 10

61000 28 080 -63.1 72.80 128000 99 089 -30.2 3.530 195000 128 11

62000 35 074 -63.5 69.30 129000 99 093 -30.4 3.384 196000 119 12

63000 38 076 -62.3 65.98 130000 101 095 -29.9 3.244 197000 111 14

64000 39 078 -61.3 62.83 131000 101 096 -29.3 3.110 198000 116 1365000 39 079 -60.1 59.85 132000 97 100 -28.3 2.982 199000 123 14

66000 38 078 -59.5 57.02 133000 92 103 -26.8 2.860 200000 116 14

Height

(ft.)

Wind 

Speed

(ft./sec.)

Wind 

Dir.

(DG)

Temp.

(DG C)

Pressure

(mb)

Dew Pt.

(DG C) 

Height

(ft.)

Wind 

Speed

(ft./sec.)

Wind Dir.

(DG)

Temp.

(DG C)

Pressure

(mb)

Dew Pt.(DG C) 

Height

(ft.)

Wind 

Speed

(ft./sec.)

Wi

D

(D

Table 5. - Concluded.
 Table 6. - Summary of STS Sonic Boom Signature Characteristics

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆

po, 

meas.

∆

po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

1

Reentry

Analog California 

(0)

 Yes 0.70 0.75 0.680 0.347 0.128 NR 1.60 

(1) 1.23 1.01 0.562 0.264 0.183 N 0.50 

(2) 0.92 1.17 0.518 0.289 0.146 N 1.30 

(3) 1.15 1.14 0.463 0.267 0.163 NR 2.00 

(4) 1.56 1.49 0.443 0.232 0.203 NR 1.70 (5) 1.60 1.83 0.397 0.215 0.184 N 0.80 

(6) 2.32 1.94 0.388 0.212 0.244 N 1.30 (7) 1.94 1.94 0.379 0.201 0.192 N 0.80 

(8) 1.78 1.57 0.382 0.207 0.186 N 1.50 

(9) 2.16 1.68 0.372 0.201 0.203 P 1.60 

(10) 1.86 1.83 0.372 0.208 0.186 P 0.80 

2

Reentry

Analog Bakersfield

(1)

none

available

1.44 2.00 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 

(2) 2.28 2.10 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- (3) 1.74 2.10 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- (4) 2.16 2.10 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 

4

Reentry

Analog EAFB (1) none 

available

0.94 1.22 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 

(2) 0.88 1.01 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- (3) 0.28 0.74 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- (4) 0.06 0.62 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 

5

Ascent

Analog Atlantic 

Ocean (2)

Yes 3.63 3.10 5.700 1.568 2.357 post

focus

9.00 
7

Ascent

Analog Atlantic 

Ocean (2)

Yes

5.17 3.200 0.542 0.878

focus

50.0

(3) 2.15 -- 7.600 1.968 1.372 post-focus 20.0

(4) 1.85 -- 7.400 1.112 0.983 post--focus 10.0(5) 6.81 -- 4.050 0.496 0.915 focus 176.0(7) ---- cut-off re: prior to focus line

(8)

Yes

3.02 -- 2.620 1.602 1.023 near-focus 22.0

(9) 0.66 -- 8.188 1.850 1.046 post-focus 24.0

41B

Reentry

Analog Florida (1) Yes 0.94 -- 0.550 0.303 0.152 N 0.90 

(2) 0.94 1.10 0.505 0.268 0.143 N 3.40 

Digital Florida (U4) U441BLND

No

1.00 -- 0.518 0.262 0.144 N 2.30 

(U6) U641BLND 0.95 -- 0.517 0.265 0.135 NR 3.27 

Analog Florida (3)

Yes

1.19 1.10 0.457 0.257 0.161 R 3.10 

Digital (3A) 1.30 1.50 0.453 0.246 0.168 N 3.10 

Florida (U3) U341BLND 1.84 -- 0.434 0.226 0.207 N 2.83 

(U9) U941BLND 1.40 -- 0.446 0.231 0.163 N 3.04 

Analog Florida (4) 0.91 1.10 0.376 0.220 0.120 RP 7.20 

Digital Florida (U8) U841BLND No 1.00 -- 0.381 0.199 0.126 RP 6.32 

Analog Florida (5) Yes 1.65 2.20 0.383 0.196 0.180 N 1.40 

Digital (U7) U741BLND No 1.86 -- 0.394 0.188 0.180 N 0.75 

Analog (6)

Yes

1.54 1.60 0.403 0.212 0.144 P 1.20 

(7) 1.07 1.50 0.375 0.200 0.120 N 1.20 

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Continued.
41D

Ascent

Analog Atlantic 

Ocean

(1) Yes

0.64 -- 3.800 2.124 0.484 Pre-focus 200.0

(2) 1.36 -- 4.000 0.500 0.248 Pre-focus 50.0(3) 2.05 -- 5.700 0.758 0.647 Pre-focus 10.0

Digital (U7) U741DLAU No 2.30 -- 4.600 0.700 0.690 Post-focus 2.67 

Analog (4) Yes 1.31 -- 4.300 0.586 0.310 Pre-focus 77.0

Digital

(U1) U141DLAU

No

1.58 -- 3.200 0.600 0.450 Pre-focus 35.1

(U4) U441DLAU 1.56 3.100 0.650 0.450 Pre-focus 36.6

Analog

(5)

Yes

2.23 -- 3.501 2.846 1.440 Post-focus 893.0

(6) 1.14 -- 5.302 2.577 1.020 Post-focus 167.0(7) 0.38 -- 4.700 0.385 0.116 Post-focus 29.0

Digital

(U5) Cut-off re: prior to focus line

(U8) U841DLAU

No

1.77 -- 1.700 0.600 0.750 Post-focus 1.09 

(U3) U341DLAU 3.62 -- 2.900 0.600 0.900 Near-focus 10.2

(U2) U241DLAU 1.67 -- 5.400 1.400 1.100 Post-focus 239.6(U9)

----

----

Cutoff re: prior to focus line

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Continued.
41G

Reentry

Analog Daytona 

Beach, FL 22 S

Yes

1.13 −− 0.461 0.238 0.157 NR 0.80 

Digital

(U3) 1.24 −− 0.491 0.275 0.132 N 2.10 (U5) 1.08 −− 0.492 0.224 0.102 P 0.90 

Analog MIMS, Fl. 39S 1.69 −− 0.393 0.204 0.181 PR 0.70 

Digital

(U4) U441GLND No 1.67 −− 0.391 0.194 0.156 PP 1.37 

(U6) U641GLND 1.79 −− 0.390 0.210 0.176 PP 1.27 

(U7) U741GLND 1.80 −− 0.392 0.196 0.172 PP 1.25 (U8) U841GLND 1.84 −− 0.391 0.189 0.174 PP 1.13 

51A

Reentry

Analog JSC, Texas

Yes

0.42 −− 1.500 0.747 0.143 N 5.80 

Digital (U6) 0.40 1.523 0.660 0.125 N 7.20 

Analog Orlanda Fl. Ch. 2 1.14 −− 0.401 0.206 00.127 PP 1.60 

Digital Orlando,Fl. 

(U4)

U451ALND No 1.08 −− 0.403 0.206 0.114 PP 1.78 

Analog Titusville, 

Fl.

Yes 1.77 −− 0.380 0.205 0.186 N 0.80 

Digital

Titusville, Fl 

(U5)

U551ALND

No

1.92 0.379 0.187 0.174 N 0.80 

(U8) U851ALND 1.85 0.379 .0176 0.160 N 0.79 

51C

Reentry

Digital

Titusville

Ch. 1

Yes

1.87 −− 0.367 0.189 0.177 SP 4.10 

Titusville 

Ch. 4

1.74 −− 0.366 0.188 0.167 SP 3.70 

Titusville 

Ch. 5

1.75 −− 0.366 0.189 0.165 SP 4.10 

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Continued.
 51C

Reentry

(cont.)

Digital Titusville, 

Fl.

Ch. 6

Yes 1.76 −− 0.367 0.189 0.169 SP 3.90 

Orland, Fl.

Ch. 2

U551CLND No 1.75 −− 0.399 0.144 0.075 P 2.67 

51D

Reentry

Digital

Titusville, 

Fl.

U651DLND

No

2.28 −− 0.391 0.213 0.245 PR 2.40 

Sanford, Fl. U851DLND 1.29 −− 0.507 0.252 0.135 PP 9.31 

Weeki

Wachee, Fl.

U351DLND 1.00 −− 0.608 0.316 0.144 N 2.28 

Bayonet 

Point, Fl.

U951DLND 0.79 0.664 0.340 0.147 NR 1.30 

Clearwater, 

Fl.

U451DLND 0.64 0.751 0.330 0.107 NR 3.08 

51G

Reentry

Digital

Emma Wood 

State Beach, 

Ca

Unit 3 Yes

0.92 1.22 0.597 0.315 0.155 NR 2.30 

Channel 

Island 

Nat. Park, 

Ca.

Unit 6

0.87 1.22 0.601 0.317 0.139 NR 1.70 

Channel 

View

Park, Ca.

Unit 4 0.90 1.18 0.631 0.340 0.132 P 1.40 

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Continued.
51F

Reentry

Digital Cockatoo Inn, 

Ca

U351FLND

No

0.97 0.74 0.476 0.212 0.099 PR 6.38 

Compton Point,Ca.

U751FLND 0.86 0.84 0.451 0.210 0.102 NR 2.81 

Artesia 

Blvd.,Ca.

U951FLND 1.27 1.10 0.501 0.234 0.146 N 1.55 

51-I 

Reentry

Digital U. Calif .Santa 

Barbara,Ca.

Unit 6

Yes

0.69 0.92 0.653 0.390 0.113 NR 1.90 

Channel 

Island

Nat. Park, 

Ca.

Unit 9 0.88 1.16 0.597 0.304 0124 NP 1.50 

61A

Reentry

Digital Northridge

Park, Ca.

Site 1 Yes 1.37 1.10 0.472 0.240 0.162 N 1.50 

Digital

Grenada Hill

Park, Ca.

 Site 2

Yes

1.11 1.10 0.466 0.246 0.133 N 1.50 

Brand Park, 

Ca.

Site 3 1.16 1.10 0.453 0.204 0.112 NR 1.40 

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Continued.
26

Reentry

Analog Kauai, 

Hawaii Site 1

Yes 0.10 0.01 2.454 1.305 0.068 PR 12.0

Digital

Santa 

Barbara, Ca.

U1MBO No 1.07 0.88 0.619 0.314 0.143 N 2.25 

Ventura, Ca. Site 3 Yes 0.65 0.93 0.661 0.352 0.121 N 2.20 

Oxnard, Ca. Site 4 0.68 0.82 0.676 0.365 0.123 N 2.40 

Lake Sherwood, Ca. Site 5 ---- Beyond Lat. C.O.

Santa Paula, 

Ca.

Site 6

Yes

1.04 0.93 0.641 0.313 0.143 PR 4.80 

Oak Flat, Ca. Site 7 0.61 0.75 0.535 0.260 0.097 N 1.40 

Lions Canyon, Ca. Site 8 1.04 1.13 0.572 0.272 0.154 N 1.00 

Gold Hill, 

Ca.

U10MBO

No

1.19 0.98 0.453 0.231 0.128 N 1.12 

Pine Mountain, Ca. U11MBO 1.16 1.16 0.543 0.261 0.122 N 2.09 

Wheeler 

Ridge, Ca.

U13MBO 1.28 1.16 0.519 0.244 0.158 N 0.86 

Conner, Ca. U12MBO 0.82 0.82 0.593 0.284 0.109 SPR 1.14 

27

Reentry

Digital C. Blanco, 

OR

U4MBI

No

0.39 -- 1.311 0.492 0.115 NR 6.06 

Folsom L., 

Ca..

U2MBOTB 0.75 -- 0.911 0.444 0.141 NP 2.60 

Sequoia, Ca. U1MBOTD 0.71 0.57 0.640 0.309 0.106 N 1.49 

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Continued.
29

Reentry

Digital

Ventura, Ca. SN04MBO

No.

1.19 1.20 0.582 0.294 0.176 N 0.91 

Santa Barbara, Ca. SN01MBO 0.66 0.60 0.541 0.302 0.099 NR 2.41 

30

Reentry

Digital Ventura, Ca. U1MBO

No

0.88 1.20 0.636 0.312 0.142 PR 1.25 

Santa Barbara,Ca. U4MBO 1.17 0.80 0.564 0.291 0.131 NP 1.52 

28

Reentry Digital

California, F SN10MBO

No

1.40 1.50 0.507 0.236 0.166 N 1.55 

G SNO8MBO 1.41 1.50 0.485 0.238 0.170 N 1.27 H SN12MB2 1.45 1.20 0.470 0.247 0.144 NP 1.16 

I SN13MBO 0.83 0.90 0.460 0.233 0.098 NR 1.65 

J SN11MBO 0.72 0.80 0.457 0.256 0.083 NR 2.63 

K U5MBO 1.40 1.30 0.542 0.259 0.156 NP 1.91 

L U4MBO 1.24 1.50 0.508 0.258 0.179 NR 1.42 

M U6MBO 0.85 1.10 0.486 0.268 0.116 NP 1.28 

N U7MBO 0.91 0.90 0.481 0.253 0.118 NR 2.18 

R U3MBO 1.12 1.10 0.500 0.245 0.133 PP 1.62 

S U9MBO 0.83 0.80 0.479 0.225 0.096 N 1.77 

X U2MBO 1.02 1.10 0.566 0.275 0.148 NR 1.83 

34

Reentry

Digital Chatsworth, 

Ca

U5MBO No 1.18 1.30 0.521 0.253 0.139 NP 1.65 

Hidden Hills, 

Ca.

U12MBO 1.23 1.30 0.519 0.255 0.147 N 1.38 

33

Reentry

Digital Santa

Barbara, Ca.

U5MBO No 1.13 1.80 0.564 0.264 0.145 NP 2.02 

Ojai, Ca. U1MBO 1.94 0.80 0.539 0.251 0.126 P 3.89 

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Continued.
32

Reentry

Digital Ventura, Ca. U1MBO

No

1.15 1.30 0.604 0.338 0.174 NP 2.00 

Thousand

Oak, Ca.

U5MBO 0.86 1.10 0.649 0.308 0.138 N 2.64 

36

Reentry

Digital Bakersfield ---- ----

Beyond Lat. cut-off

Lake Isabella U5MBO No 1.71 1.40 0.523 0.251 0.130 SP 1.64 

31

Reentry

Digital Ojai, Ca. (1) U5MBO

No

1.16 1.20 0.555 0.264 0.146 NP 1.65 

(2) U1MBO 0.81 1.20 0.559 0.299 0.141 NR 1.75 (3) U3MBO 1.49 1.20 0.559 0.265 0.167 SP 5.79 

41

Reentry

Digital Goleta, Ca. U3MBO

No

0.92 0.90 0.610 0.312 0.148 N 2.54 

Santa 

Barbara, Ca.

U1MBO 0.93 0.97 0.603 0.312 0.139 N 2.52 

STS 

MSN

 Flt.

Phase 

Meas.

 System

Meas.

Site

Microphone Sigs. Scanned

Signature Characteristics

∆po, 

meas.

∆po, psf

pred. 

∆T,

sec.

∆to,

sec.

Io, 

lb/ft2-sec

Waveform

 category

τ1/2

mse

Table 6. - Concluded.
 Table 7. - SUMMARY OF MAXIMUM SONIC BOOM OVERPRESSURES MEASURED ON ST

MSN

NO.

Sonic Boom Signature Flight Phase Approximate Flight Conditions at Boom Origin 

∆p. psf Waveform Date Time, Z Mach No. Altitude, ft.

STS-1 2.32 N 4-14-81 18:16:34 Re-entry 1.8 71.000

STS-2 2.28 -- 11-14-81 21:18:00 Re-entry 2.0 72,000 Si

STS-4 0.94 -- 7-4-82 16:04:00 Re-entry 3.3 97,000 Si

STS-5 3.63 post-focus 11-11-82 12:23:41 Ascent 3.6 112,000 AsSTS-7 6.81 focus 6-18-83 11:38:27.3 Ascent 3.6 147,000 As

STS-41-B 1.86 N 2-11-84 12:12:03 Re-entry 3.3 95,000

STS-41-D 3.62 near-focus 8-30-84 12:48:17 Ascent 3.6 163.000 AsSTS-41-G 1.84 PP 10-13-84 16:22:39 Re-entry 1.6 66,000

STS-51-A 1.92 N 11-16-84 11:56:13 Re-entry 1.4 60,000

STS-51-C 1.87 SP 1-27-85 21:19:36 Re-entry 1.4 60,000

STS-51-D 2.28 PR 4-19-85 13:50:35 Re-entry 1.5 59,000 

STS-51-G 0.92 NR 6-24-85 13:06:43 Re-entry 4.0 106,000 STS-51-F 1.27 N 8-06-85 19:40:30 Re-entry 3.6 99,000

STS-51-I 0.88 NP 9-03-85 13:09:54 Re-entry 4.0 108,000STS-61-A 1.37 N 11-06-85 17:39:28 Re-entry 3.0 92,000

STS-26 1.28 N 10-03-88 16:31:57 Re-entry 3.2 95,448STS-27 0.75 NP 12-06-88 23:27:53 Re-entry 6.2 130,000STS-29 1.19 N 3-18-89 14-29-58 Re-entry 4.2 108,000STS-30 1.17 NP 5-08-89 19:37:23 Re-entry 4.5 113,000STS-28 1.45 NP 8-13-89 13:32:59 Re-entry 3.0 91,000STS-34 1.23 N 10-23-89 16:27:16 Re-entry 3.6 100,000STS-33 1.94 P 11-28-89 00:24:26 Re-entry 3.8 95,000STS-32 1.15 NP 1-20-90 9:29:45 Re-entry 4.1 104,000STS-36 1.71 SP 3-04-90 18:03:39 Re-entry 3.1 95,000

STS-31 1.49 SP 4-29-90 13:44:03 Re-entry 3.9 105,000STS-41 0.93 N 10-10-90 13:51:05 Re-entry 4.5 114,000
Figure I. - Photograph of space shuttle launch vehicle at lift

-off. 

44 
121. 5 FT ORB 

146 IN. 

DIA SRB--

Figure 2. - Schematic of space shuttle launch vehicle 
, , " 

• , , 

- -. Unnec Stales I 

• 

Figure 3. Orbiter Columbia nearing touchdown. 

46 
Figure 4. - STS Orbiter characteristics.

T 

U

;: c 

!! (j) 

I: :> 

IJi I. 

. !! 

II 

r~ 

34.64 ft 

Reference dimensions 

Center of gravity at 68.99 ft 

Length 122 ft 

Wingspan 78 ft 

Landing weight 200,0001bs 

Center of gravity = 68.99 

~ /Il1"~~~/-----l-----l.----1 

I~ 122ft-~~ 14--1~ -78 ft ~ 

47
Gulf of Mexico 

N 

If 

Scale miles 

o 100 

I I 

Figure 5.- STS launch site and sonic boom measurement regions. 

STS 

ascent 

heading 

Sonic boom 

measurement region 

Atlantic Ocean 
Range of STS 

re-entry 

headings into 

EAFB 

Sonic boom 

measurement 

regions 

EAFB Landing Site 

Johnson 

Space Center 

Range of STS re-entry 

headings into KSC 

..j::.. 

\0 Figure 6.- STS landing sites and sonic boom measurement regions 

N 

iJ 

..... KSC Landing Site 
~ 

.0 " E 

g 

"" " ~ 

:;;: 

8 

7 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

350 

300 

250 

.:: 

0200 

0 

0 

~ 

" '" B 

E150 

..: 

100 

50 / 

" ... " " " " 

I 

/ 

Solid rocket booster 

staging 

I 

/ 

I 

I 

/ 

I 

I 

/ 

I 

/ 

/ 

I 

I 

I 

I 

Altitude 

/ Mach number 

/ 

/ 

Boom 

arrival 

12:23:41 

o O~~ ____ ~ ______ -L ______ ~L-______ ~ ____ L-~ 

2:00 4:00 5:00 

Time after lift-off, min. 

Figure 7. · RepresentativeSTS launch-ascent Mach-altitude trajectory (STS-5). 50 
Altitude Mach deg Heading 

3 120 160 x 10 ,ft 9 

140 110 

120 7 100 

100 5 90 80 

60 3 80 

40 1 70 

750 650 550 450 350 250 750 650 550 450 350 250 750 650 550 450 350 250 

deg Flight path angle Angle of attack deg Roll angle 

0 deg 70 

35 50 ·4 30 

·8 25 10 

-10 

·12 15 -30 

-50 

-16 5 -70 

750 650 550 450 350 250 750 650 550 450 350 250 750 650 550 450 350 250 

Time to touchdown, sec 

Figure 8. - Time histories of STS orbiter reentry-descent flight parameters (STS-26) 
x103 

9 200 

j 

r 

I 

--Altitude / 

/ 

8 / 

---Mach number / 

I 

.I 

/ 

7 / 

150 I 

/ 

/ 

/-" 

6 / 

/ 

l-< 

(!) ~ " " " ,.0 5 " / 

S <l) " '"'d ;::::3 100 " B r 

~ /. 

..c: .~ / 4 ...... / 

~ ,...... / 

~ / 

~ / 

~ 

,/ 

3 / 

/ '" 

,,/ 

50 ,/ 

,/ 

,/ 2 ,/ 

,/ 

,/ 

..- ,/ 

;" .,.."" 1 ..-

° 0 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

Time to Mach 1.0, min. 

Figure 9. - Representative STS reentry-descent to landing Mach-altitude trajectory .. (STS.51D) 
150 150 

:;;; 

2 e e LU 

Cl 100 100 LU ::J CJ 

~ ::J 

l- I- H 

....l I-

"'" ....l 

"'" 

50 50 

o 

10 100 -50 -30 -10 10 30 o 20 40 60 60 100 120 140 160 0 45 90 135 160 225 270 315 360 

PRESSURE (mbars) TEMPERATURE (degrees C) WINO SPEED (ft/sec) WINO DIRECTION (degrees) 

Figure 10 - Type of atmospheric information acquired on STS sonic boom measurements. (STS-41 D ascent) 
1 

.. ,e. ~ ...... ....... ...... 

• 

(a) Sonic boom data acquisition system - SBDAS 

Pressure 

Trlg9Qr .," 

(b) Portable automatic triggering system - PATS 

Figure II . . Photographs and schematics of analog and digital sonic boom measurement systems. 
~ " 

Q) -I: 

E 

m 

"' 

:J 

~ 

" 

E 

I: 

l!l 

-

:0 

'" -' 

I: 

"0 

'" .c 

"' 

a1 -

0 

~ 

~ 

Q) 

'!' -I: 

~ 

E 

'" 

Q) 

"' 

:J 

" 

~ 

" E -I: 

"' 

'. I' 

0 

'" I: 

" -

:J 

ci 

~ 

"i 

~ 

a. 

'" 

.2 

en 

fen "' 

0 

I: 

.2 

.c 

0 

0 

E 

E 

'" 

Q) 

"' 

:J 

" 

~ 

E 

Q) -I: 

"' -·iii 

co 

:J 

ii: 

ss 
2.0 

1.0 

~ 0.0 

~. 

·1.0 

-2.0 

2.0 

1.0 

0.0 

-1.0 

-2.0 

Station 2 

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0. 

l1me. seconds 

a) STS-41 0 ascent 

Station 1 

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 

l1me. seconds 

b) STS-41 B fe-entry 

Figure 13. - Representative measured sonic boom signatures from STS ascent and reentry. 

MSN 

STS-41D 

STS-41B 

Approximate Mach and 

altitude at which booms 

were generated. 

3.57 163.000 ft. 

4.2 108.000 ft. 
..J 120 w 

> W 

..J 

:E 

:J 

0:: 

Io 

w 

a. 

f/) 

w 

0:: 

:J 

f/) 

o 

a. 

x 

w 

o 

115 

110 

105 

100 

95 

90 

Z 

:J 

o 

f/) 

~ L-~~~~~ __ ~~~~~~~~~~ 

m 

"tl 

~ 

..J . 115 

~ w 

..J 

:E 

:J 

0:: 

Io 

w 

a. 

f/) 

w 

0:: 

:J 

f/) 

o 

a. 

x 

w 

o 

Z 

:J 

o 

f/) 

110 

105 

100 

95 

90 

85 

80 

0.1 1 10 100 

FREQUENCY (Hz) 

(a) STS-4ID, ascent, M = 3.57, h = 163,000 ft. 

1 10 

FREQUENCY (Hz) 

(b) STS-4lB, reentry, M = 4.2, h = 108,000 rt. 

100 

Figure 14 . • Typical noise spectra associated with STS ascent and reentry sonic boom signatures. 

57 
(a) Launch-ascent. 

(b) Reentry-descent. 

Figure 15. - Sonic boom signature characteristics. 
Ocean 

(a) Origin of launch-ascent focus boom. 

(b) Planview of launch-ascent focus boom region 

with planned measurement locations. 

Figure 16. - Description of launch-ascent focus boom region. 
0-

0-

10 

I 

I 

Iii 

<> 

!\ 

A 

\ Post-focus 

, '\ region 

8 

Lip 6 

psf 

Pre-focus 

4 regIOn 

1.0 sec 

---ir---

~ 

~ 

t 

CALCULATED LOCATION 

, 

c/O 

- 2 

o 

OF FOC US BOOM 

I I i 

45 5'0 5,5 

DOWN RANGE DI STANCE, n. mi. 

Figure 17. - STS launch-ascent sonic boom signatures within focus region. 
10 

8 

~p 6 

psf 

4 

2 

o 30 

o ,L>~ ___ =:---

o l~ ___ --:;:::::::>.....",...--.. 

t 

CALC ULATED LOCA T1 ON 

OF FOCUS BOOM 

I 

L---::::::::===--

~~--

L1 

LJ~r=::::::>":::::--

0.5 sec 

--1 r--

35 40 45 

DOWN RANGE DISTANCE, n. mi. 

Figure 18. - Saturn-Apollo 17 launch-ascent sonic boom signatures within focus region (ref. 3). 
z UJIN 'dV 'a~nssa~d~a~o wooq ~!UOS 

0\ N 

0.. 

<3 

:::J 

V') 

VI 

i:' 

e-

<V 

> 

o 

E 

o 

.8 

c: o 

if) 

D. 

D. Predicted 50 

o 

o .2 .4 .6 

Time. sec 

50 

0> r ---

o .01 .02 .03 

Time, sec 

(a) Station 2 (M = 3.41 at 99,715 ft. MSL) 

J 

.04 

.8 

E 

Z 

0.-

<3 

<Ji 

..... 

:::J 

V> V> 

"" \-eQ) 

> 

o 

c: 

o 

Vl 

125 

o 

-125 I 

o .2 

T

125, 

-125 L __ 

(b) Station 9 (M 

Figure 19. - Measured sonic boom signatures near the ground track during reentry-descent of 

along with details of the bow-shock rise time (from ref. 37). 

D-

<3 

:::J 

V') 

VI 

i:' 

e-

<V 

> 0 

E 

0 

.8 

c: 

0 

if) 

50 D. Predicted 125 

o o 

-50 -125 

0 .2 .4 .6 .8 0 .2 

E 

Time. sec Z T

o.-

<3 

<Ji 

..... 

:::J 

V> V> 

"" \-eQ) 

> 

0 

50 c: 125 

( ----- 0 if) 0 0 

-50 L..-----'--_--'-_---'--_---l. __ L-_--L-_--L_ J -1250L---L-.---L./ _--L_

o .m .m .m 

Time. sec 

(a) Station 2 (M = 3.41 at 99,715 ft. MSL) (b) Station 9 (M 

Figure 19. - Measured sonic boom signatures near the ground track during reentry-descent of 

along with details of the bow-shock rise time (from ref. 37). 
Measured Signature Waveform Category M.SN Boom Time. Z Boom Time. Local 

Peaked (P) STS-33 

Normal· 

Peaked (!'{P) STS.31 

Normal (NA) STS-31 

Rounded 

00:24:26 

13:44:00 

13:44:02 

Figure 20. - Variation in measured sonic boom signatures from SIS descent resulting from 

the atmosphere. (OJAI, CA, M - 3.6, H - 100,000 ft). 

4:24 pm 

6:44 am 

6:44 am:, 
en 

o 

"E 

o 

.0 

o 

o 

E 

3: 

~ 

-(» 

o 

.... 

E 

o 

1U 

CD 

Q) 

o 

"~ 

CD 

<Ii 

64 
1.06} SITE 2 M=4. 57 H = 114506 ft. 

-----

0.65I _____ ~_ SITE 3 M=4. 21 H = 109257 ft. 

0.70 SITE 4 M=4.19 H=108929ft. 

1.05 SITE 6 M=4.01 H = 105976 ft. 

0.61 =t ______ _=_ 

H = 102039 ft. 

1.04~ ___ """"'-_ SITE 8 M=3. 77 H = 102695 ft. 

SITE 9 M=3. 30 H = 97117 ft. 

H = 99086 ft. 

SITE 11 M=3.18 H=95477ft. 

I I I I 

o .1 .2 .3 

0.82 ~ ~.---- SITE 12 M=3. 30 H = 99086 ft. 

Time, sec 

Figure 22. - Comparison of pressure signatures from the 10 measurement sites in California which 

received sonic booms from STS-26 reentry.(from ref 38). 
40 

20 

o 

Range 

North, .. 20 

nmi 

.. 60 

Contours of equal overpressure Edwards AFB 

Vandenberg 

AFB 

o Measurement site 

( ) Overpressure in Ibs/ft 2 

'lateral cutoff .. 80 

·16~0~.-.714~O~.1~2~O--.1~O~O---8~O~~-6~O----4~O--~---O~! --2LO--~40 

Figure 23 

Range East, nmi t 

Comparison of measured and.predicted sonic boom overpressures observed at the 

11 measurement sites in' California from STS-26 reentry.( from ref. 38). 
Vehicle 

Shuttle 

orbiter 

Shuttle 

orbiter 

APo Ib/ft2 

0.69 

! "1""_C_--

i 

2.32 

"1""-

i' 

1.94 

M Altitude, ft 

--- -:--r- 6.0 129,000 -

1.76 70,690 

Concorde -:r2.0 52,000 

SR-71 

i 

.,-~--- I I ! I I J 

0.1 .2 .3 .4 .5 

Time, sec 

3.0 80,000 

Figure 24. - Comparison of measured on-track sonic boom signatures for reentrydescent of the STS Orbiter and other aircraft. 
Sonic boom 

overpressure, 

6 

4 

e:.p, Ib/ft2 2 

o 

o Aircraft data 

• Apollo ~cent tr 

• Apollo capsule re-en y 

A Shuttle ascent 

... 

t....::. Shuttle or b't 1 e r re-entry 

~~. Prediction iiV''ii~ dWffi}-x. , 

XB-70 

Ascent launc h vehicles . 

o 20 40 140 160 180 

Altitude, ft 

" d'cted . som . essures near the ground track for . 'c boom overpr . . . Figure 25, - Meas ure several andpre aircraft I an d sRacecraft . • . , 
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved

OMB No. 0704-0188

2. REPORT TYPE 

Contractor Report

 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

A Compilation of Space Shuttle Sonic Boom Measurements

5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

NNL05AB74T

 6. AUTHOR(S)

Maglieri, Domenic J.; Henderson, Herbert R.; Massey, Steven J.; 

Stansbery, Eugene G.

 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

NASA Langley Research Center Eagle Aeronautics, Inc.

Hampton, VA 23681-2199 13 West Mercury Boulevard

 Hampton, VA 23669-2508

 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546-0001

 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

 REPORT NUMBER

10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)

NASA

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

STS sonic boom database available on CD-ROM as a supplement to this report.

Langley Technical Monitor: Peter G. Coen

12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Unclassified - Unlimited

Subject Category 71 

Availability: NASA CASI (443) 757-5802

19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON

STI Help Desk (email: help@sti.nasa.gov)

14. ABSTRACT

Sonic boom measurements have been obtained on 26 flights of the Space Shuttle system beginning with the launch of STS-1 

on April 12, 1981, to the reentry-descent of STS-41 into EAFB on Oct. 10, 1990. A total of 23 boom measurements were 

acquired within the focus region off the Florida coast during 3 STS launch-ascents and 113 boom measurements were acquired 

during 23 STS reentry-descent to landing into Florida and California. Sonic boom measurements were made under, and lateral 

to, the vehicle ground track and cover the Mach-altitude range of about 1.3 to 23 and 54,000 feet to 243,000 feet, respectively. 

Vehicle operational data, flight profiles and weather data were also gathered during the flights. This STS boom database is 

contained in 26 documents, some are formal and referenceable but most internal documents. Another 38 documents, also 

non-referenceable, contain predicted sonic boom footprints for reentry-descent flights on which no measurements were made. 

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the STS sonic boom database and summarize the main findings.

15. SUBJECT TERMS

Sonic boom signatures; Rise times; Spectra; Footprints; Focussing; Atmospheric effects

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(443) 757-5802

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