Posted on 10/17/2014 8:57:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Air Force's secret mini-shuttle has finally returned to earth after spending nearly two years on a classified mission in space, military officials said today.
The X37-B space plane touched down this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after spending a staggering 674 days aloft.
One of the few things known about the space plane's classified missions is that it can stay in orbit for extended periods of time.
Measuring 29 feet in length and having a 15-foot wingspan, the unmanned re-usable orbital test vehicle looks like a miniature version of NASA's now retired space shuttles.
Like the space shuttle, the X-37B lands on runways, though it does so without pilots at the helm.
The latest flight was the plane's third mission. The X37-B will blast off on its fourth mission sometime next year from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Thank you for the ping.
You can count on the Ruski paranoia to be concerned big time. That may be behind the flyby closeups by their sound buoy “Bear”.
The Yellow Hoard is trying to figure out how to make a replica, because most of their current tech is what klintoon sold them and we they know we know what it was.
Only if Mousad was flying the X37-B.
Vanguard has been in orbit since 1958, but has been non-operating since 1964. The longest operating satellite used to keep an eye on the Sun and gave early warning of solar flares for manned missions, but I couldn’t find that info. The Zarya module of the ISS was launched first, and the Unity rendezvous with it began the long process of building the ISS. Both are US-owned, Zarya was built in the former USSR. The Soviets tried probes to Mars as early as 1960, all of them failures, and they are still out there in solar orbit (but dead).
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/accomplishments/rockets/vanguard-project/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarya
http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/missions-to-mars.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_4
It’s difficult to launch anything secretly, but I take your meaning. :’)
Thanks JH.
Good point, but the Clementine mission got to the Moon using a low-fuel, long-term trajectory; that was the main purpose behind its funding.
thanks!
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