Did anyone else get woken up by the space shuttle flying over the Burke area at 12:50 a.m.?

edit by Cary: Added "Figher Jets over Burke/Fairfax April 2011" to the subject line for list-page clarity.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2011 05:24PM by Cary.

Yes -- I had no idea what it was, but I started freaking out that something was on the verge of crashing...

I did. I did a quick search

http://muckrack.com/link/4822034

turns out that it appears NORAD is conducting an exercise a day early due to cloud cover?

Looked like something shooting straight up into the sky quite fast, though.

I called the Fairfax police non-emergency line and was told that there was a military exercise going on.

you called the police for WHAT NOW?!

yes i heard multiple "low flying aircraft" sounds around the tysons corner area

http://www.norad.mil/News/2011/041211a.html

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and its geographical component, the Continental United States NORAD Region (CONR), will conduct exercise Falcon Virgo 11-07 beginning midnight Tuesday into early Wednesday morning in the National Capital Region, Washington, D.C. and Frederick County, Md.

yes, I was awaken by it too. I live in Burke. I thought I was dreaming but when I heard the roar I jump out of bed and just listen with my phone in my hand. I thought a plane was going to crash, so I was prepared to call the police. I'm glad to know it was military exercise.

I'm always up late-at-night, yet somehow I keep missing this action.

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"And if any women or children get their legs torn off, or faces caved in, well, it's tough shit for them." -2LT. Bert Stiles, 505th, 339th (On Berlin Bombardier Mission, 1944).

James Palwik Wrote:
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> I did. I did a quick search
>
> http://muckrack.com/link/4822034
>
> turns out that it appears NORAD is conducting an
> exercise a day early due to cloud cover?
>
> Looked like something shooting straight up into
> the sky quite fast, though.


Fighter jets can do that.

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"And if any women or children get their legs torn off, or faces caved in, well, it's tough shit for them." -2LT. Bert Stiles, 505th, 339th (On Berlin Bombardier Mission, 1944).

not a chance that you heard a shuttle. Please see this excerpt from http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/BGH/hihyper.html

The Shuttle uses a rocket propulsion system to get into orbit, but during re-entry the aircraft is actually an un-powered glider. Small steering rockets are used for maneuvering early in the re-entry because the low density of the air at altitudes above 50 miles makes aerodynamic surfaces ineffective.

Just sayin

JBass Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> not a chance that you heard a shuttle. Please see
> this excerpt from
> http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/BGH/hihyper.html
>
> The Shuttle uses a rocket propulsion system to get
> into orbit, but during re-entry the aircraft is
> actually an un-powered glider. Small steering
> rockets are used for maneuvering early in the
> re-entry because the low density of the air at
> altitudes above 50 miles makes aerodynamic
> surfaces ineffective.
>
> Just sayin


The Shuttle makes a double Sonic Boom when passing overhead, but that's it. Otherwise, it's relatively quiet. You can even hear birds around it from the on-board cameras as it approaches Florida.

On a similar note, another reason it couldn't have been the Space Shuttle is because there is no Shuttle currently flying.

==================================================================================================
"And if any women or children get their legs torn off, or faces caved in, well, it's tough shit for them." -2LT. Bert Stiles, 505th, 339th (On Berlin Bombardier Mission, 1944).

I stand corrected. Fascinating.