Analysis of sonic booms from Falcon 9 booster landings Free

One drawback to the ability to land boosters of orbital launch vehicles, such as the Falcon 9, is the associated reentry sonic boom. Because of the Falcon 9 booster shape and landing orientation, the observed waveform at the ground contains three shocks (a triple boom), rather than the two associated with a traditional N-wave. To assess the impact of these sonic booms, acoustic data from a Falcon-9 booster landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base are analyzed. The data were collected in Lompoc, CA, at locations 7-14 km away from the landing site. Waveform and spectral characteristics are examined and various metrics, including A-weighted Sound Exposure Levels (ASEL), are calculated. These metrics from the reentry sonic booms are compared with metrics calculated from the launch noise.