It's a Bird... It's a Plane... What the Freak WAS That?!?

Friday afternoon, we were all sitting around the house preparing for a leisurely weekend. An unexpected sound shook the very foundation of our apartment. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It sounded sort of like an explosion, but was more of a concussive force... Not really a KABOOM! But more of a giant POP!!! And I mean GIANT pop! So then my mind went reeling... What could that possibly be? Hayden came running into the room with a concerned/ terrified look on his face. "What... was... that?!?" I had no answer.

My concern was heightened by the realization that it was 9/11. Was there a new terrorist attack in Los Angeles? Had Jack Bauer failed to thwart another enemy plot? I started scouring the internet for breaking news, but to no avail.

Then this came up on the L.A. Times:


With its signature sonic boom, shuttle lands at Edwards

September 11, 2009 | 5:56 pm

The space shuttle Discovery landed this afternoon at Edwards Air Force Base, complete with its signature sonic boom heard across Southern California.

The shuttle glided down over Los Angeles and landed on the runway without incident.

Unstable weather on the East Coast forced Discovery to land at Edwards instead of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The so-called de-orbit burn began shortly before 5 p.m., with landing about 5:50 p.m.

“The burn lasts three to four minutes, slowing Discovery enough to begin its descent,” according to information published by NASA.

The landing completes a trip to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. The mission lasted 14 days and covered 5.7 million miles.

--Ann M. Simmons

No terrorist plot... We had just heard the space shuttle!!!

How cool is that?!?