Yes! As the Space Shuttle re-enters the atmosphere at supersonic speeds,
it creates shock waves which produce sonic booms. In fact, you'll hear not one,
but two sonic booms! Because the Space Shuttle is so large (122 ft
long), you will hear the sonic booms created by both the nose and tail shock
waves (they occur about one-half second apart). All supersonic airplanes
produce two sonic booms, but because they happen so close to each other, you
hear them as one sound.