If the skies are clear, western Iowa will have an opportunity to see and hear Space Shuttle Discovery this morning during it’s 35-minute re-entry pass from Montana to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
According to NASA, the Shuttle will pass directly over Sioux City at Mach 18 speed and then over the Kansas City area at Mach 16 speed.
The landing in Florida is scheduled for 7:48 a.m. central time so start watching the skies at about 7 a.m. SpaceWeather says you should expect this:
Landing is scheduled for 8:48 am EDT, and it takes the shuttle about 35 minutes to traverse the path shown above. Observers in the northwestern USA will see the shuttle shortly after 5 am PDT blazing like a meteoritic fireball through the dawn sky. As Discovery makes its way east, it will enter daylight and fade into the bright blue background. If you can’t see the shuttle, however, you might be able to hear it. The shuttle produces a sonic double-boom that reaches the ground about a minute and a half after passing overhead.
dammit i wanted to hear the sonic boom but its not going over us!!