Anomalous infrasound from Space Shuttle II and Skylab I

Abstract

Infrasound from Space Shuttle II and Skylab I recorded at Palisades, New York had characteristics strikingly different from all previous signals recorded from large rockets launched at Cape Canaveral. In the case of Space Shuttle, the reentry signal is unusually weak and lacking normal low frequency components. This anomaly is traced to the horizontal attitude of the reentry boosters and their slower speed. In the case of Skylab, the reentry signal arrives unusually early and the ratio of launch to reentry signal amplitude is inverted from past values. A combination of a different launch direction and weak stratospheric sound channel is responsible for the signal anomalies.

1001 Rocket Launches for Space Missions and Their Infrasonic Signature

“…Previous studies on infrasound from rocket launches were performed during the early years of space missions (Balachandran & Donn, 1971; Balachandran et al., 1971; Cotten & Donn, 1971; Donn et al., 1968, 1971, 1975; Kaschak, 1969; Kaschak et al., 1970; McCarty & Dalins, 1971; Tahira & Donn, 1983). Many of them cover infrasound observations of the Saturn V rocket starts for the Apollo program, up to now the largest and heaviest space launches ever performed.…”