Mystery USAF Space Plane
700 Days into a Secret Mission
X-37B Military Space Plane
The US Air Force's X-37B space plane has been orbiting the Earth for the past 700 days. No one, except top military and Trump Administration officials, knows exactly what the mission and the payload are. We do know that the vehicle is robotic, solar-powered and reusable. It launched on its fifth mission on September 7, 2017 and has been orbiting the Earth ever since.
Mystery Missions
What the X-37B is doing is the subject of speculation. The mission is called Orbital Test Vehicle 5. The Air Force will only say that the X-37B tests technologies for future reusable spacecraft and also has scientific experiments on board. For the most part the payloads are classified. But the Air Force did disclose that there is an experiment to see how oscillating heat pipes and certain electronics perform in space.
Boeing Built
The Air Force has two X-37Bs, built by Boeing. In its five missions, the longest duration flight was Mission Four at 714 days. Mission Five is expected to break that endurance record. For a free Kindle borrow of my latest book "Big Space News 2019", go to amazon.com/author/ekane
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TYG31KM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i11
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| Source: US Air Force |
X-37B Military Space Plane
The US Air Force's X-37B space plane has been orbiting the Earth for the past 700 days. No one, except top military and Trump Administration officials, knows exactly what the mission and the payload are. We do know that the vehicle is robotic, solar-powered and reusable. It launched on its fifth mission on September 7, 2017 and has been orbiting the Earth ever since.
Mystery Missions
What the X-37B is doing is the subject of speculation. The mission is called Orbital Test Vehicle 5. The Air Force will only say that the X-37B tests technologies for future reusable spacecraft and also has scientific experiments on board. For the most part the payloads are classified. But the Air Force did disclose that there is an experiment to see how oscillating heat pipes and certain electronics perform in space.
Boeing Built
The Air Force has two X-37Bs, built by Boeing. In its five missions, the longest duration flight was Mission Four at 714 days. Mission Five is expected to break that endurance record. For a free Kindle borrow of my latest book "Big Space News 2019", go to amazon.com/author/ekane
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TYG31KM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i11
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