The US Air Force's classified Boeing X-37B spacecraft will reach a major milestone later this month.Launched on an Atlas V rocket in 2012,the third mission of the X-37B,called OTV-3,will mark 500 days in orbit on 25 April.It has already surpassed its former record for length of a continuous space plane mission of 479 days.
The Air Force has two of the heavily cloaked Boeing spacecraft,which resemble a small version of the space shuttle,although lacking a central tailfin.It has two smaller tailfins instead-one on each side.*
The first of the unannounced space plane missions occurred in 2010.The spacecraft land at Vandenburg Air Force Base,California.There are rumours that a larger,manned version,the X-37C,is to follow.The Air Force formerly launched classified military missions from Vandenburg as part of the space shuttle program.*
The X-37B is 8.8 meters long,with a payload bay of 2.1 by 1.2 meters.It weighs in at 4990 kilograms at liftoff.Once it space,it unfolds a solar panel to power operations.The space plane reportedly makes multiple passes over China and North Korea daily.On at least one occasion,it drew near to a Chinese satellite.*
The X-37B is visible to the naked eye,reaching a magnitude in excess of +1.Check the website Heavens-Above to find its course through the night sky.*
Given the X designation,it is probably a testbed for such things as reconnaissance technology or space warfare projects.Satellite tracking and anti-satellite weapons are possible areas of interest the program is furthering.China has intercepted and destroyed one of its own aging weather satellites with an intercontinental ballistic missile,demonstrating a capability the Air Force may be eager to respond to.*
Boeing(BA)
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