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发帖数: 1084 | 1 http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/mysterious-x-37b-space-pla
No one seems to know much about the Air Force's X-37B secret space plane
except that it appears to be working exactly as designed. The unmanned
Boeing-built craft, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, returned to
Earth on Friday after nearly two years — 674 days, to be exact — in space.
It's the X-37B program's third mission to space and by far the longest.
The plane landed at 9:24 a.m. local time on Oct. 17 at Vandenberg Air Force
Base in California, the Air Force's 30th Space Wing announced.
"The 30th Space Wing and our mission partners, Air Force Rapid Capabilities
Office, Boeing, and our base support contractors, have put countless hours
of hard work into preparing for this landing and today we were able to see
the culmination of that dedication," Colonel Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing
commander, said in a release. "I'm extremely proud of our team for coming
together to execute this third safe and successful landing. Everyone from
our on console space operators to our airfield managers and civil engineers
take pride in this unique mission and exemplify excellence during its
execution."
But just what did the X-37B do up there? The Air Force isn't telling.
To be fair, experimental military-funded space projects aren't exactly the
kind of thing you expect the brass to talk about in public. Inquiries over
the years, and this week by NBC News, have always been met with polite but
firm "no comment."
What is known is that the X-37B has no human pilot, or at least not one in
its windowless cockpit. It's operated remotely and lands on its own. The
details of its launches aren't secret, but nor are they particularly
interesting: it rode an Atlas V booster on Dec. 12, 2012, and assumed orbit
about 180 miles above the Earth. That last part, notably, was figured out by
a network of curious astronomers, not released publicly by the Air Force.
The plane's size means there isn't room on board for much except avionics
equipment, fuel for the thrusters, and a mysterious cavity about the size of
a truck bed that could contain all manner of sensors, experiments, hardware
— perhaps even a plant or some bacterial colonies. Of course, no one can
be sure what's inside.
Until the Air Force decides it's time to spill the beans, the X-37B will
keep its secrets, even if they happen to just be ordinary testing of still-
classified radio hardware or radiation-resistant materials. For now, the X-
37B (and its siblings, however many there may be) will be locked away at
Vandenberg Air Base in California, waiting, perhaps, to break its own record
for days in orbit. |
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