US Air Force space plane launched for third time
DEC 12, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026608
BBC : The X-37B is a reusable, unmanned space plane operated by the US Air Force. It looks like a smaller version of the now retired space shuttle and launches on top of an Atlas V rocket. Its missions have been kept secret. The launch on 11 December from Patrick Air Force Base in Florida was just the third in the craft’s history, with the two previous missions lasting 224 days and 469 days. Speculation abounds over the craft’s missions and capabilities, though the air force’s official description of the X-37B is that it is an “experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform.”
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
