![]() This is where official information from the Air Force usually stops, and the speculation begins. The Air Force only made public two tests involved in this latest mission: an electric-propulsion device that could allow spacecraft to carry heavier payloads and a NASA experiment aimed at exposing 100 different kinds of materials samples to microgravity. It can spend 270 days or more in orbit, and is launched into space aboard an Atlas V rocket. The X-37B weighs about 11,000 pounds at launch and has a wingspan of 14 feet. The X-37B, built by Boeing, borrowed its aerodynamic design from the NASA space shuttles that ferried astronauts to and from space for 30 years, but it uses a different kind of heat shield. has developed for experimental purposes, usually with a good amount of secrecy. The X in front of the program’s name means the spacecraft is a member of a long line of planes and rockets the U.S. It grew out of a project at NASA in 1998 aimed at reducing the cost of space transportation, It was transferred to the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, in 2004, where it became instantly classified. The X-37B mission is managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, a unit inside the Air Force that specializes in developing aircraft technology. With each run, the Air Force has released more and more information about the highly classified program, which may be why this fourth mission received more public attention than usual. Their mission is to “demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform” for the Air Force, according to a press release. ![]() The Air Force has two X-37B spaceplanes, and they’ve flown before-three times, in fact, since 2010. But secret military spaceplanes? You usually need a sonic boom to hear about that. People know plenty about the civilian side-the missions to other planets, the SpaceX launches, astronauts’ cool Instagram pictures from the space station. The reaction illustrated the distinct line between the country’s civilian and military activities in space, and how much the general public knows about each. Why didn’t we know about this thing, the reaction seemed to go. The news that the military had a space shuttle quietly orbiting Earth for more than 700 days came as a surprise to some. To which many observers said, wait, what? “Our team has been preparing for this event for several years, and I am extremely proud to see our hard work and dedication culminate in today’s safe and successful landing of the X-37B,” said Brigadier General Wayne Monteith, the commander of the Air Force’s Space Wing. The Air Force, which operates the X-37B, tweeted about its return minutes later, and soon posted a flurry of images and videos of the spaceplane online. It sent shockwaves rippling through the air as it entered the atmosphere over Florida, producing a sonic boom loud enough to jolt people awake across the state. military’s X-37B, an uncrewed spacecraft that looks like a miniature version of the retired space shuttles, returned to Earth over the weekend after spending nearly two years in low-Earth orbit. ![]() Top-secret military spaceplanes certainly know how to make an entrance. ![]()
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