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Starship Super Heavy acoustics: Comparing launch noise from Flights 5 and 6
Kent L Gee1, Noah L Pulsipher1, Makayle S Kellison1
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602, USAkentgee@byu.edu, npuls@byu.edu, makayle@byu.edu, grant_hart@byu.edu, loganmathews@byu.edu, mark.anderson@byu.net.
Abstract:
This Letter analyzes launch noise from Starship Super Heavy's Flights 5 and 6. While Flight-5 data covered 9.7-35.5 km, the stations during Flight 6 spanned 1.0-35.5 km. A comparison of A-weighted and unweighted maximum and exposure levels is made between flights and with an updated environmental assessment (EA). Key findings include: (a) the two flights' noise levels diverge beyond 10 km, (b) EA models overestimate A-weighted metrics, and (c) the acoustic energy from a Starship launch is equivalent to 2.2 Space Launch System launches or ∼11 Falcon 9 launches. These measurements help predict Starship's noise levels around Kennedy Space Center.
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