--- title: "Residents Heard a Loud Boom. Turns Out It Was SpaceX Coming Back to Earth" description: "Residents in Jacksonville, Florida, heard a loud boom on Thursday night — and it wasn't fireworks gone rogue or a massive fireball coming to finish us off." date: "2021-10-04" modified: "2021-10-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/loud-boom-spacex-landing" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "dragon 2" - "international space station" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Residents Heard a Loud Boom. Turns Out It Was SpaceX Coming Back to Earth ![Residents in Jacksonville, Florida, heard a loud boom on Thursday night — and it wasn't fireworks gone rogue or a massive fireball coming to finish us off.]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Big Boom Residents in Jacksonville, Florida, [heard a loud boom]() on Thursday night — and it wasn't fireworks gone rogue or a [massive fireball](). As it turns out, it was SpaceX's Dragon 2 spacecraft breaking the sound barrier right before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. [Videos]() shared on social media show the blazing capsule burning through the atmosphere. The boom was so loud that several residents nearby reported they felt their entire houses shaking, [according to *Insider*]() — the kind of disruption that soon could become commonplace as space travel becomes [more accessible than ever](). https://twitter.com/DaniANjax/status/1443775285476868097 ## Dragon Returns The spacecraft [successfully completed]() the space company's 23rd commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station last week. The capsule spent about a month in space after delivering supplies, scientific research equipment, and tech demonstrations. It carried about 4,600 pounds of cargo, including frozen experiment specimens used to study diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and type 2 diabetes, [according to NASA](). It was also carrying samples from a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency investigation into special biomaterials capable of inhibiting muscle atrophy in microgravity. Given the increased frequency of space launches, there's a very good chance more and more people will be able to witness the return of a spacecraft — and, perhaps, hear it as well. **READ MORE:** [SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft caused a sonic boom in Florida after splashing down in the Atlantic, residents say]() \[*Insider*\] **More on SpaceX:** *[In Newly-Released Documents, NASA Scoffed at Jeff Bezos’ Moon Lawsuit]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()