June 21, 2007

Muffled boom over OC as shuttle lands at Edwards

Gary Robbins

ATLANTIS TOUCHES DOWN

The space shuttle Atlantis produced a muffled sonic boom heard across much of Orange County at 12:40 p.m. today while it was en route to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

The pressure from the boom softly shook doors and windows throughout Southern California. We've had reports about the boom and the shaking from readers in Santa Ana, Irvine, Orange, Trabuco Canyon, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Carlsbad.

The shuttle flew in from the Pacific Ocean and followed a path that will took it over greater Los Angeles en route to a flawless landing at Edwards at 12:49 p.m.

Atlantis was scheduled to land in Florida on Thursday, but the touchdown was canceled because of thunderstorms at Cape

The shuttle and its seven person crew have returned from a 14 day mission to the International Space Station, where they improved the outpost's power supplies and added a large girder that was partly developed at Boeing-Huntington Beach.

The next shuttle flight is scheduled for Aug. 9, when Endeavour will travel to space station. The crew includes Tracy Caldwell, a Cal State Fullerton graduate.