Mysterious spaceplane X-37B returned to Earth after its longest flight: 908 days in orbit

(Boeing / US Space Force / Staff Sgt. Adam Shanks https://bit.ly/3UreTeN)

The mysterious unmanned space-plane Boeing X-37B landed after 908 days in orbit.

The spaceplane which was launched in May 2020, once again broke its own flight duration record, which had previously been 780 days.

The X-37B is a reusable unmanned spaceplane developed by Boeing for the US Air Force, and then taken over by the US Space Force.

Its dimensions are 8.8 meters long and 4.5 wide wingspan.

The spaceplane is delivered into orbit inside the head fairing of the rocket, and returns independently in airplane mode, landing on the runway.

The X-37B has an expandable cargo bay, just like the Space Shuttle, and inside its compartment can be located both stationary equipment and satellites.

The spaceplane development program began in 1999, and initially it was a NASA project, but in the mid-2000s it was handed over to the military.

Because of this, most of its tasks are classified, although the scientific part of the experiments within the missions is announced before the launch of each mission.

According to the program, two devices were built, each of which has made three flights since 2010.

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LONG MISSIONS
In many ways, the X-37B is known for its long missions. The first of them lasted 224 days, and each subsequent one was longer than the previous one.

The last flight began on May 17, 2020, when an Atlas V rocket launched the X-37B.

On November 12, the US Space Force and Boeing announced that the spaceplane returned to Earth, landing on the runway of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Thus, the spaceplane spent 908 days in orbit and again broke its own record.

Among the objectives of this mission was to conduct several scientific and technical experiments.

One of the known missions was the generation of energy by solar panels and its transmission to Earth using microwave radiation.

The launch organizers also said that the X-37B would launch one small FalconSat 8 microsatellite from the cargo compartment.

At the end of May 2020, shortly after the launch of the spaceplane into orbit, it became known that the spaceplane had launched an object that astronomers mistook for FalconSat 8.

However, the mission press release states that FalconSat 8 was released in October 2021.

It is possible that the object that separated in the first days after the launch belonged to the military part of the mission

The data about the mysterious object was not publicly disclosed.

(Boeing / US Space Force / Staff Sgt. Adam Shanks https://bit.ly/3AboCho)

Sources:

• SpaceForce: https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article/3217077/x-37b-orbital-test-vehicle-concludes-sixth-successful-mission/
• Spacenews: https://spacenews.com/x-37b-space-plane-completes-its-sixth-mission-lands-after-nearly-30-months-in-orbit/

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