Sonic boom heard as SpaceX Dragon capsule lands off Oceanside

The reentry path of the returning Dragon capsule Map courtesy of SpaceX A sonic boom shook parts of Southern California on Saturday night as an unmanned SpaceX Dragon capsule reentered Earth s atmosphere and landed in the ocean off Oceanside The spacecraft was returning from a mission to resupply the International Space Station It launched from Florida on April carrying pounds of supplies and spent days docked at the station Dragon is on track to reenter Earth s atmosphere and splash down off the southern coast of California near Oceanside at p m PT SpaceX posted on X The Los Angeles Times communicated residents from Santa Clarita to West Hollywood heard and felt the sonic boom NASA and SpaceX have switched splashdown sites from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean between San Diego and Los Angeles for safety reasons SpaceX mentioned Pacific splashdowns will ensure that any surviving pieces of the dragon s cargo trunk jettisoned near flight s end fall safely into the ocean The Dragon leaves the space station Photo courtesy of NASA