Article:
The record-shattering mission of the U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane is finally over. 
  
 After circling Earth for an unprecedented 718 days, the X-37B touched down Sunday (May 7) at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida — the first landing at the SLF since the final space shuttle mission came back to Earth in July 2011. The landing occurred at 7:47 a.m. EDT (1147 GMT). 
  
 "Today marks an incredibly exciting day for the 45th Space Wing as we continue to break barriers," Air Force Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, the 45th SW commander, said in a statement. "Our team has been preparing for this event for several years, and I am extremely proud to see our hard work and dedication culminate in today's safe and successful landing of the X-37B." [The Mysterious X-37B Space Plane: 6 Surprising Facts] 
  
 The U.S. Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 (OTV-4) is seen after landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 7, 2017. The unpiloted space plane spent a record 718 days in space during its classified mission. Credit: U.S. Air Force 
  
 The just-ended mission, known as OTV-4 (Orbital Test Vehicle-4), was the fourth for the X-37B program. All four launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and the first three landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But Air Force officials have said they want to consolidate X-37B launch and touchdown operations on Florida's Space Coast, so today's landing might be the first of many at the SLF. 
  
 "The hard work of the X-37B OTV team and the 45th Space Wing successfully demonstrated the flexibility and resolve necessary to continue the nation's advancement in space," Randy Walden, the director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said in the same statement. "The ability to land, refurbish, and launch from the same location further enhances the OTV's ability to rapidly integrate and qualify new space technologies." 
  
 The Air Force is known to possess two X-37B space plane vehicles, both of which were built by Boeing. The 29-foot-long (8.8 meters) X-37B looks like NASA's now-retired space shuttle orbiter, only much smaller; indeed, two X-37Bs could fit inside a space shuttle's cavernous payload bay. 
  
 The X-37B launches vertically and comes back to Earth horizontally for a runway landing, as the space shuttle did. 
  
 Most of the X-37B's payloads and activities are classified, leading to some speculation that the space plane could be a weapon of some sort, perhaps a disabler of enemy satellites. But Air Force officials have always strongly refuted that notion, stressing that the vehicle is simply testing technologies on orbit. [The X-37B's Fourth Mystery Mission in Photos] 
  
 Technicians in protective gear work on the U.S. Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle after its successful landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 7, 2017. NASA's massive Vehicle Assembly Building is visible in the distance at top right. Credit: U.S. Air Force 
  
  
  
 Space weapon tests: It's a secret project to make war in space. 
  
 Space surveillance: It's the world's best spysat platform. 
  
 Space tech tests: The U.S. military is pushing the robotic spaceflight frontier. 
  
 Peaceful uses in space: The X-37B is quiet because it's a robot and doesn't talk. 
  
  
  
 "Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control; thermal-protection systems; avionics; high-temperature structures and seals; conformal, reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems; and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing," Capt. AnnMarie Annicelli, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Space.com via email in March. 
  
 "Also, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO) are investigating an experimental propulsion system," she said. 
  
 Outside experts generally agree with the Air Force's claims, saying it's unlikely that the X-37B is doing anything aggressive or nefarious on orbit. Some observers have suggested that, in addition to the roles cited by Annicelli, the vehicle may be testing sensors for the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the United States' fleet of spy satellites. 
  
 Each X-37B flight has been longer than the last. OTV-1 lifted off on April 22, 2010, and spent 224 days in space; OTV-2 launched on March 5, 2011, and orbited Earth for 468 days; and OTV-3 began on Dec. 11, 2012, and lasted 674 days. (OTV-4 lifted off on May 20, 2015.) 
  
 Though OTV-4 set an X-37B program record, the mission fell far short of the overall mark for longest spaceflight mission. Some Earth-observing satellites have operated for decades, and NASA's twin Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes are still sending data home, nearly 40 years after their 1977 launches. 
  
 Editor's note: This story was updated Monday, May 8 to include the landing time for X-37B contributed by reporter Irene Klotz. 
  
 Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. ||||| Although the Air Force has disclosed some of the payloads that have flown to orbit on the X-37B, most of the space plane's onboard gear is classified, as are the details of its orbital activities. This secrecy has led to some speculation that the vehicle is some sort of space weapon, perhaps one designed to take out or capture satellites. However, the Air Force has always denied this notion, insisting that the X-37B is just testing out technologies for future spacecraft, and carrying various experiments up to space and back. Some of these technologies being tested may be sensors and other equipment for future spy satellites, outside experts have said. ||||| Mission: The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force. The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold; reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth. 
  
  
  
 Features: 
  
 The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft. Based on NASA’s X-37 design, the unmanned OTV is designed for vertical launch to low Earth orbit altitudes where it can perform long duration space technology experimentation and testing. Upon command from the ground, the OTV autonomously re-enters the atmosphere, descends, and lands horizontally on a runway. The X-37B is the first vehicle since NASA’s Shuttle Orbiter with the ability to return experiments to Earth for further inspection and analysis, but with an on-orbit time of 270 days or greater, the X-37B can stay in space for much longer. 
  
  
  
 Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, advanced propulsion systems, advanced materials and autonomous orbital flight, reentry and landing. 
  
  
  
 Background: 
  
 The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office is leading the Department of Defense’s Orbital Test Vehicle initiative, by direction of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and the Secretary of the Air Force. The Air Force OTV effort uses extensive contractor and government investments in the X-37 program by the Air Force, NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to continue full-scale development and on-orbit testing of a long-duration, reusable space vehicle. 
  
  
  
 NASA’s original X-37 program began in 1999 and ran until September 2004 when NASA transferred the program to DARPA. NASA envisioned building two vehicles, an Approach and Landing Test Vehicle, or ALTV, and an Orbital Vehicle. The ALTV validated flight dynamics and extended the flight envelope beyond the low speed/low altitude tests conducted by NASA from 1998 through 2001 on the X-40A, a sub-scale version of the X-37 developed by Air Force Research Labs. DARPA completed the ALTV portion of the X-37 program in September 2006 by successfully executing a series of captive carry and free flight tests. NASA’s X-37 Orbital Vehicle was never built, but its design was the starting point for the Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle program. 
  
  
  
 The Air Force has successfully flown four X-37B missions, OTV-1 through OTV-4, beginning with its first launch on April 22, 2010 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. OTV-1 through OTV-3 all landed successfully at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and the most recent mission, OTV-4, successfully landed at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on May 7, 2017, after 718 days in orbit. The first four OTV missions have spent a total of 2,085 days on orbit, successfully checking out the X-37B’s reusable flight, reentry and landing technologies as well as operating experiments to benefit the national space community. 
  
  
  
 General Characteristics: 
  
 Primary Mission: Experimental test vehicle 
  
 Prime Contractor: Boeing 
  
 Height: 9 feet, 6 inches (2.9 meters) 
  
 Length: 29 feet, 3 inches (8.9 meters) 
  
 Wingspan: 14 feet, 11 inches (4.5 meters) 
  
 Launch Weight: 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms) 
  
 Power: Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells with lithium-Ion batteries 
  
 Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V (501) 
  
 NEWS INFO Date Taken: 05.07.2017 Date Posted: 05.07.2017 08:02 Story ID: 232877 Location: WASHINGTON, DC, US Web Views: 3,265 Downloads: 4 Podcast Hits: 0 PUBLIC DOMAIN This work, X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Fact Sheet, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. ||||| CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The U.S. military’s experimental X-37B space plane landed on Sunday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing a classified mission that lasted nearly two years, the Air Force said. 
  
 The unmanned X-37B, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, touched down at 7:47 a.m. EDT (1147 GMT) on a runway formerly used for landings of the now-mothballed space shuttles, the Air Force said in an email. 
  
  
  
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 The Boeing-built space plane blasted off in May 2015 from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N). 
  
 The X-37B, one of two in the Air Force fleet, conducted unspecified experiments for more than 700 days while in orbit. It was the fourth and lengthiest mission so far for the secretive program, managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. 
  
 The orbiters “perform risk reduction, experimentation and concept-of-operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies,” the Air Force has said without providing details. The cost of the program is also classified. 
  
 The Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit group promoting the peaceful exploration of space, says the secrecy surrounding the X-37B suggests the presence of intelligence-related hardware being tested or evaluated aboard the craft. 
  
 The vehicles are 29 feet (9 meters) long and have a wingspan of 15 feet, making them about one quarter of the size of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s now-retired space shuttles. 
  
 Slideshow (4 Images) 
  
 The X-37B, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, first flew in April 2010 and returned after eight months. A second mission launched in March 2011 and lasted 15 months, while a third took flight in December 2012 and returned after 22 months. 
  
 Sunday’s landing was the X-37B’s first in Florida. The three previous landings took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Air Force relocated the program in 2014, taking over two of NASA’s former shuttle-processing hangars. 
  
 The Air Force intends to launch the fifth X-37B mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of the Kennedy Space Center, later this year. |||||Summary:
– The Air Force owns two X-37B space planes, and one of them is finally back on the ground after a nearly 2-year-long secret mission. While the what is unknown, the how long is clear: 718 days in orbit, reports Space.com, with the unmanned plane landing Sunday morning at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida—and flying into the record books. It was the Air Force's fourth such mission since April 2010 and the longest to date. A fifth is planned for 2017, reports Reuters. There's plenty of speculation about what the 29-foot-long plane, which looks like a mini-space shuttle, is up to up there. Reuters cites one group's belief that the secrecy indicates intelligence-related hardware tests are being conducted. An Air Force fact sheet offers up this much: "The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold; reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth." One cool fact: Though its mission is classified, its location isn't, thanks to what Space.com refers to as "keen-eyed amateur astronomers." The site offers a satellite tracker when missions are active, and notes the X-37B "usually looks like a star of middling brightness moving across the sky."
Artikel: Det rekordomvälvande uppdraget för USA:s flygvapens robotiska X-37B-rymdplan är äntligen över. Efter att ha kretsat runt jorden i en aldrig tidigare skådad 718 dagar, landade X-37B söndag (7 maj) på Shuttle Landing Facility vid NASA:s Kennedy Space Center i Florida – den första landningen vid SLF sedan det slutliga rymdfärjeuppdraget kom tillbaka till jorden i juli 2011. Landningen skedde klockan 07:47 EDT (1147 GMT). "I dag är en otroligt spännande dag för 45:e rymdflygeln när vi fortsätter att bryta barriärer", flygvapnets brigad. General Wayne Monteith, den 45:e SW-chefen, sa i ett uttalande. "Vårt team har förberett sig för detta evenemang i flera år, och jag är oerhört stolt över att se vårt hårda arbete och engagemang kulminera i dagens säkra och framgångsrika landning av X-37B." [The Mysterious X-37B Space Plane: 6 Surprising Facts] USA:s flygvapens X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 (OTV-4) ses efter landning på Shuttle Landing Facility vid NASA:s Kennedy Space Center i Cape Canaveral, Florida den 7 maj 2017. Det opilotade rymdplanet tillbringade rekord 718 dagar i rymden under sitt klassade uppdrag. Kreditera: Amerikanskt flygvapen Det nyss-avslutade uppdraget, som kallas OTV-4 (Orbital Test Vehicle-4), var det fjärde för X-37B-programmet. Alla fyra sjösattes från Floridas Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, och de tre första landsteg på Vandenberg Air Force Base i Kalifornien. Men flygvapnets tjänstemän har sagt att de vill konsolidera X-37B uppskjutning och touchdown operationer på Floridas rymdkust, så dagens landning kan vara den första av många på SLF. "Det hårda arbetet i X-37B OTV-teamet och 45th Space Wing visade framgångsrikt den flexibilitet och beslutsamhet som krävs för att fortsätta nationens framsteg i rymden," Randy Walden, chef för Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, sade i samma uttalande. "Möjligheten att landa, renovera och avfyra från samma plats ökar ytterligare OTV:s förmåga att snabbt integrera och kvalificera ny rymdteknik." Flygvapnet är känt för att inneha två rymdflygplan av typen X-37B, vilka båda byggdes av Boeing. Den 29 fot långa (8,8 meter) X-37B ser ut som NASA:s nu pensionerade rymdfärje omloppsbana, bara mycket mindre; faktiskt kunde två X-37B:s få plats inne i en rymdfärjas grottartade nyttolastkaj. X-37B skjuter upp vertikalt och kommer tillbaka till jorden horisontellt för en landningsbana landning, som rymdfärjan gjorde. De flesta av X-37B:s nyttolaster och aktiviteter är hemligstämplade, vilket leder till viss spekulation om att rymdplanet kan vara ett vapen av något slag, kanske en oskadliggörare av fiendesatelliter. Men flygvapnets tjänstemän har alltid starkt motbevisat denna uppfattning och betonat att fordonet bara testar teknik i omloppsbana. [The X-37B:s fjärde mysterieuppdrag på foton] Tekniker i skyddsutrustningsarbete på USA:s flygvapens X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle efter dess framgångsrika landning på NASA:s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility i Cape Canaveral, Florida den 7 maj 2017. NASA:s massiva fordonsförsamlingsbyggnad syns i avståndet högst upp till höger. Kreditera: US Air Force Rymdvapentester: Det är ett hemligt projekt för att göra krig i rymden. Rymdövervakning: Det är världens bästa spionsat-plattform. Rymdtekniska tester: USA:s militär driver robotrymdfärdens gräns. Fredliga användningsområden i rymden: X-37B är tyst eftersom det är en robot och inte pratar. "Teknik som testas i programmet omfattar avancerad vägledning, navigering och kontroll; termiska skyddssystem; avionik; högtemperaturstrukturer och tätningar; konform, återanvändbar isolering, lätta elektromekaniska flygsystem; och autonom omloppsbana, återinträde och landning," Capt. AnnMarie Annicelli, en flygvapentaleskvinna, berättade det för Space.com via e-post i mars. "Även flygvapnets forskningslaboratorium (AFRL), Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) och Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO) undersöker ett experimentellt framdrivningssystem", sade hon. Experter utanför håller i allmänhet med flygvapnets påståenden, och säger att det är osannolikt att X-37B gör något aggressivt eller skändligt på omloppsbanan. Vissa observatörer har föreslagit att fordonet, förutom de roller som Annicelli nämner, kan vara testsensorer för National Reconnaissance Office, som driver USA:s flotta av spionsatelliter. Varje X-37B-flygning har varit längre än den senaste. OTV-1 lyfte den 22 april 2010, och tillbringade 224 dagar i rymden; OTV-2 sköt upp den 5 mars 2011, och kretsade runt jorden i 468 dagar; och OTV-3 började den 11 december 2012, och varade i 674 dagar. (OTV-4 lyfte den 20 maj 2015.) Även om OTV-4 satte ett X-37B programrekord, så nådde uppdraget långt under det totala målet för det längsta rymdfärdsuppdraget. Vissa jordobservationssatelliter har fungerat i årtionden, och NASA:s tvilling Voyager 1 och Voyager 2 sonder skickar fortfarande data hem, nästan 40 år efter deras uppskjutning 1977. Redaktörens anmärkning: Denna berättelse uppdaterades måndagen den 8 maj för att inkludera landningstiden för X-37B som medverkat av reportern Irene Klotz. Följ Mike Wall på Twitter @michaeldwall och Google+. Följ oss @Spacedotcom, Facebook eller Google+. Ursprungligen publicerad på Space.com. Även om flygvapnet har avslöjat en del av nyttolasten som har flugit till omloppsbana på X-37B, är det mesta av rymdplanets ombordutrustning klassificerad, liksom detaljerna i dess omloppsverksamhet. Denna hemlighetsmakeri har lett till en del spekulationer om att fordonet är något slags rymdvapen, kanske ett som är avsett att slå ut eller fånga upp satelliter. Flygvapnet har dock alltid förnekat denna uppfattning, insisterat på att X-37B bara testar ut teknologier för framtida rymdfarkoster, och utför olika experiment upp till rymden och tillbaka. En del av dessa tekniker som testas kan vara sensorer och annan utrustning för framtida spionsatelliter, har utomstående experter sagt. Uppdrag: X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, eller OTV, är ett experimentellt testprogram för att demonstrera teknik för en tillförlitlig, återanvändbar, obemannade rymdtestplattform för USA:s flygvapen. X-37B:s primära mål är tvåfaldiga; återanvändbara rymdfarkosttekniker för USA:s framtid i rymden och operativa experiment som kan återföras till, och undersökas, på jorden. Funktioner: X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle är den nyaste och mest avancerade återinträde rymdfarkosten. Baserat på NASA:s X-37-design är den obemannade OTV:n konstruerad för vertikal uppskjutning till låga jordbanahöjder där den kan utföra experiment och testning av rymdteknik under lång tid. På kommando från marken går OTV autonomt in i atmosfären, ner och landar horisontellt på en landningsbana. X-37B är det första fordonet sedan NASA:s Shuttle Orbiter med möjlighet att returnera experiment till jorden för ytterligare inspektion och analys, men med en on-orbit-tid på 270 dagar eller mer kan X-37B stanna i rymden mycket längre. Tekniker som testas i programmet inkluderar avancerad vägledning, navigering och styrning, termiska skyddssystem, avionik, högtemperaturstrukturer och tätningar, konform återanvändbar isolering, lätta elektromekaniska flygsystem, avancerade framdrivningssystem, avancerade material och autonom omloppsbana, återinträde och landning. Bakgrund: Flygvapnets snabbkapacitetskontor leder försvarsdepartementets initiativ Orbital Test Vehicle, genom ledning av försvarsministern för förvärv, teknik och logistik samt flygvapnets sekreterare. Flygvapnets OTV-insats använder omfattande entreprenörs- och statliga investeringar i X-37-programmet av flygvapnet, NASA och Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency för att fortsätta fullskalig utveckling och on-orbit-testning av ett långlivat, återanvändbart rymdfordon. NASA:s ursprungliga X-37-program började 1999 och pågick fram till september 2004 då NASA överförde programmet till DARPA. NASA föreställde sig att bygga två fordon, ett inflygnings- och landningsprovfordon, eller ALTV, och ett orbitalfordon. ALTV validerade flygdynamiken och förlängde flygkuvertet utöver de lågfarts-/låghöjdstest som NASA genomförde från 1998 till 2001 på X-40A, en underskalad version av X-37 som utvecklades av Air Force Research Labs. DARPA slutförde ALTV-delen av X-37-programmet i september 2006 genom att framgångsrikt genomföra en rad fångtransport- och fria flygtester. NASA:s X-37 Orbital Vehicle byggdes aldrig, men dess design var utgångspunkten för flygvapnets program X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. Flygvapnet har framgångsrikt flugit fyra X-37B-uppdrag, OTV-1 genom OTV-4, med början med sin första uppskjutning den 22 april 2010 från Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. OTV-1 genom OTV-3 landade alla framgångsrikt på Vandenberg AFB, Calif., och det senaste uppdraget, OTV-4, landade framgångsrikt på Kennedy Space Center, Fla. den 7 maj 2017, efter 718 dagar i omloppsbana. De fyra första OTV-uppdragen har tillbringat totalt 2 085 dagar på omloppsbana, och framgångsrikt kollat in X-37B:s återanvändbara flyg-, återinträdes- och landningsteknik samt operativa experiment för att gynna det nationella rymdsamhället. Allmänna egenskaper: Primärt uppdrag: Experimentell testfordon Prime Entreprenör: Boeing Höjd: 9 fot, 6 tum (2,9 meter) Längd: 29 fot, 3 tum (8,9 meter) Vingspan: 14 fot, 11 tum (4,5 meter) Lansering Vikt: 11 000 pounds (4,990 kg) Effekt: Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells with lithium-Ion batterier Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V (501) NYHET INFO Datum Tagen: 05.07.2017 Datum Posted: 05.07.2017 08:02 Story ID: 232877 Plats: WASHINGTON, DC, US Web Views: 3,265 Nedladdningar: 4 Podcast Träffar: 0 OFFENTLIGT DOMAIN Detta arbete, X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Fact Sheet, måste uppfylla de begränsningar som visas på https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. . . . Cape CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - USA: s militär experimentell X-37B rymdplan landade på söndagen på NASA Kennedy Space Center i Florida, slutföra ett hemligt uppdrag som varade i nästan två år, sade flygvapnet. Den obemannade X-37B, som liknar en rymdfärja i miniatyr, landade klockan 07:47 på EDT (1147 GMT) på en bana som tidigare användes för landningar av de nu-muttballerade rymdfärjorna, sade flygvapnet i ett e-postmeddelande. REUTERS REKOMMENDERAR Exklusiv: Tysk rapport väcker oro över A400M militär beredskap Quebec pensionsfond undanhållande stöd för Bombardier verkställande ordförande Boeing-byggda rymdplan sprängdes i maj 2015 från närliggande Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ombord på en Atlas 5-raket byggd av United Launch Alliance, ett partnerskap mellan Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) och Boeing Co (BA.N). X-37B, en av två i flygvapnets flotta, utförde ospecificerade experiment under mer än 700 dagar medan de befann sig i omloppsbana. Det var det fjärde och längsta uppdraget hittills för det hemlighetsfulla programmet, som sköttes av Flygvapnets Rapid Capabilities Office. De omloppsbanor “perform risk reduction, experiment och koncept-of-operations utveckling för återanvändningsbara rymdfordon teknik,” Flygvapnet har sagt utan att ge detaljer. Kostnaden för programmet är också hemligstämplad. The Secure World Foundation, en ideell grupp som främjar fredlig utforskning av rymden, säger hemlighetsmakeriet kring X-37B antyder närvaron av intelligensrelaterad hårdvara som testas eller utvärderas ombord på farkosten. Fordonen är 9 meter långa och har ett vingspann på 15 fot, vilket gör dem till ungefär en fjärdedel av storleken på National Aeronautics and Space Administrations nu pensionerade rymdfärjor. Bildspel (4 Bilder) X-37B, även kallat Orbital Test Vehicle, eller OTV, flög först i april 2010 och återvände efter åtta månader. Ett andra uppdrag sjösattes i mars 2011 och varade i 15 månader, medan ett tredje flög i december 2012 och återvände efter 22 månader. Söndagens landning var X-37B:s första i Florida. De tre tidigare landstigningarna skedde på Vandenberg Air Force Base i Kalifornien. Flygvapnet omlokaliserade programmet 2014, och tog över två av NASA:s tidigare skyttelbearbetningshangarer. Flygvapnet avser att avfyra det femte X-37B-uppdraget från Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, beläget strax söder om Kennedy Space Center, senare i år. ••••••••••••••••••••••
Article: The record-changing mission of the U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B spaceplane is finally over. After orbiting the Earth for an unprecedented 718 days, the X-37B landed Sunday (May 7) at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida – the first landing at the SLF since the final space shuttle mission came back to Earth in July 2011. The landing took place at 07:47 EDT (1147 GMT). "Today is an incredibly exciting day for the 45th Space Wing as we continue to break barriers", the Air Force Brigade. General Wayne Monteith, the 45th SW chief, said in a statement. "Our team has been preparing for this event for years, and I am extremely proud to see our hard work and commitment culminate in today's safe and successful landing of X-37B." [The Mysterious X-37B Space Plane: 6 Surprising Facts] U.S. Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 (OTV-4) is seen after landing on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 7, 2017. The unpiloted spaceplane spent a record 718 days in space during its classified mission. Credit: American Air Force The recently completed mission, called OTV-4 (Orbital Test Vehicle-4), was the fourth for the X-37B program. All four were launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and the first three landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. But Air Force officials have said they want to consolidate the X-37B launch and touchdown operations on the Florida Space Coast, so today's landing may be the first of many on the SLF. "The hard work of the X-37B OTV team and the 45th Space Wing successfully showed the flexibility and determination required to continue the nation's progress in space," Randy Walden, head of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said in the same statement. "The ability to land, renovate and fire from the same location further increases OTV's ability to rapidly integrate and qualify new space technology." The Air Force is known to hold two X-37B spaceplanes, both of which were built by Boeing. The 29-foot-long (8.8 metres) X-37B looks like NASA's now retired space shuttle orbit, only much smaller; actually, two X-37Bs could fit inside a space shuttle's cavery payload bay. The X-37B launches vertically and comes back to Earth horizontally for a runway landing, as the space shuttle did. Most of X-37B's payloads and activities are classified, leading to some speculation that the spaceplane may be a weapon of some kind, perhaps an incapacitator of enemy satellites. However, Air Force officials have always strongly refuted this view and stressed that the vehicle is only testing technology in orbit. [The X-37B's fourth mystery mission on photos] Technician in protective equipment work on the U.S. Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle after its successful landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 7, 2017. NASA's massive vehicle assembly building is visible in the distance at the top right. Credit: US Air Force Space Force tests: It is a secret project to make war in space. Space Surveillance: It's the world's best spy-sat platform. Space Engineering Tests: The U.S. military is pushing the missile space flight border. Peaceful uses in space: X-37B is silent because it is a robot and does not talk. "Technology tested in the program includes advanced guidance, navigation, and control; thermal protection systems; avionics; high temperature structures and seals; conform, reusable insulation, light electromechanical flight systems; and autonomous orbit, reentry and landing," Capt. AnnMarie Annicelli, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Space.com via e-mail in March. "Also the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO) are investigating an experimental propulsion system," she said. Experts outside generally agree with Air Force claims, saying it is unlikely that X-37B is doing anything aggressive or detestable on orbit. Some observers have suggested that the vehicle, in addition to the roles mentioned by Annicelli, may be test sensors for the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the United States Navy of Spy Satellites. Each X-37B flight has been longer than the last. OTV-1 took off on April 22, 2010, spending 224 days in space; OTV-2 launched on March 5, 2011, orbiting the earth for 468 days; and OTV-3 began on December 11, 2012, and lasted 674 days. (OTV-4 took off on 20 May 2015.) Although OTV-4 set an X-37B program record, the mission reached far below the overall goal of the longest spaceflight mission. Some Earth observation satellites have worked for decades, and NASA's twin Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes still send data home, nearly 40 years after their launch in 1977. Editor's note: This story was updated Monday, May 8 to include the landing time of X-37B as featured by reporter Irene Klotz. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Although the Air Force has revealed some of the payload that has flown to orbit on X-37B, most of the spaceplane's on-board equipment is classified, as are the details of its orbital activities. This secrecy has led to some speculation that the vehicle is some kind of space weapon, perhaps one designed to knock out or catch satellites. However, the Air Force has always denied this view, insisted that X-37B only tests out technologies for future spacecraft, and performs various experiments up to space and back. Some of these techniques tested may be sensors and other equipment for future spy satellites, external experts have said. Mission: X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, is an experimental test program to demonstrate technology for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the United States Air Force. The X-37B's primary targets are twofold; reusable spacecraft techniques for the future of the United States in space and operational experiments that can be returned to, and investigated, on Earth. Features: The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft. Based on NASA's X-37 design, the unmanned OTV is designed for vertical launch to low Earth orbital altitudes where it can perform long-term experiments and testing of space technology. On command from the ground, OTV autonomously enters the atmosphere, down and lands horizontally on a runway. The X-37B is the first vehicle since NASA's Shuttle Orbiter with the ability to return experiments to Earth for further inspection and analysis, but with an on-orbit time of 270 days or more, the X-37B can stay in space much longer. Techniques tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conform reusable insulation, light electromechanical flight systems, advanced propulsion systems, advanced materials and autonomous orbit, reentry and landing. Background: Air Force Rapid Capacity Office heads the Department of Defense's Orbital Test Vehicle initiative, led by the Minister of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics as well as Air Force Secretary. The Air Force OTV effort uses extensive entrepreneurial and government investments in the X-37 program of the Air Force, NASA and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to continue full-scale development and on-orbit testing of a long-lived, reusable space vehicle. NASA's original X-37 program began in 1999 and ran until September 2004 when NASA transferred the program to DARPA. NASA envisioned building two vehicles, an approach and landing test vehicle, or ALTV, and an orbital vehicle. ALTV validated flight dynamics and extended the flight envelope in addition to the low-speed/low-altitude tests conducted by NASA from 1998 to 2001 on the X-40A, an underscale version of X-37 developed by Air Force Research Labs. DARPA completed the ALTV portion of the X-37 program in September 2006 by successfully conducting a series of prisoner transport and free flight tests. NASA's X-37 Orbital Vehicle was never built, but its design was the starting point of the Air Force program X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. The Air Force has successfully flown four X-37B missions, OTV-1 through OTV-4, beginning with its first launch on April 22, 2010 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. OTV-1 through OTV-3 all landed successfully at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and the latest mission, OTV-4, landed successfully at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on May 7, 2017, after 718 days in orbit. The first four OTV missions have spent a total of 2,085 days on orbit, successfully checking out X-37B's reusable aviation, reentry and landing technology as well as operational experiments to benefit the national space community. General characteristics: Primary mission: Experimental test vehicle Prime Entrepreneur: Boeing Height: 9 feet, 6 inches (2.9 meters) Length: 29 feet, 3 inches (8.9 meters) Wingpan: 14 feet, 11 inches (4.5 meters) Launch Weight: 11,000 pounds (4.990 kg) Power: Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells with lithium-Ion batteries Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V (501) NEWS INFO Dates Taken: 05.07.2017 Dates Posted: 05.07.2017 08:02 Story ID: 232877 Location: WASHINGTON, DC, US Web Views: 3.265 Downloads: 4 Podcast Hits: 0public DOMAIN This work, X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Fact Sheet, must meet the limitations shown at https://www.dvidshub.net/copyight. . . . Cape CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. military experimental X-37B spaceplanes landed on Sunday at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing a secret mission that lasted nearly two years, the Air Force said. The unmanned X-37B, similar to a miniature space shuttle, landed at 07:47 on EDT (1147 GMT) on a runway previously used for landings of the now-muttballed space shuttles, said the Air Force in an email. REUTERS RECOMMENDS Exclusive: German report raises concerns over A400M military preparedness Quebec pension fund withholding support for Bombardier executive chairman Boeing-built spaceplanes were blown up in May 2015 from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas 5 rocket built by the United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N). X-37B, one of two in the Air Force Navy, conducted unspecified experiments for more than 700 days while in orbit. It was the fourth and longest mission to date for the secretive program, managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The orbits “perform risk reduction, experiments and concept-of-operations development for reusable space vehicle technology,” the Air Force has said without giving details. The cost of the program is also classified. The Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit group promoting peaceful exploration of space, says the secrecy surrounding X-37B suggests the presence of intelligence-related hardware tested or evaluated aboard the craft. The vehicles are 9 metres long and have a wingspan of 15 feet, making them about a quarter of the size of the now retired space shuttles of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Slideshow (4 Pictures) X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, flew only in April 2010 and returned after eight months. A second mission was launched in March 2011 and lasted 15 months, while a third flew in December 2012 and returned after 22 months. Sunday's landing was X-37B's first in Florida. The three previous landings took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Air Force relocated the program in 2014, taking over two of NASA's former shuttle processing hangars. The Air Force intends to launch the fifth X-37B mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of Kennedy Space Center, later this year. <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk>
– Flygvapnet äger två X-37B-rymdplan, och ett av dem är äntligen tillbaka på marken efter ett nästan 2-årigt hemligt uppdrag. Medan det okända, hur länge är klart: 718 dagar i omloppsbana, rapporterar Space.com, med det obemannade planet landar söndag morgon på NASA: s Kennedy Space Center i Florida – och flyger in i rekordböckerna. Det var Flygvapnets fjärde sådana uppdrag sedan april 2010 och det längsta hittills. En femte planeras till 2017, rapporterar Reuters. Det spekuleras mycket om vad det 29 meter långa planet, som ser ut som en minirymdfärja, är uppe i. Reuters citerar en grupps övertygelse att hemlighetsmakeriet indikerar att intelligensrelaterade hårdvarutester genomförs. Ett faktablad från flygvapnet erbjuder så här mycket: "De primära målen för X-37B är tvåfaldiga; återanvändbara rymdfarkosttekniker för USA:s framtid i rymden och operativa experiment som kan återföras till, och undersökas, på jorden." Ett coolt faktum: Även om dess uppdrag är hemligstämplat, är dess läge inte, tack vare vad Space.com kallar "keen-eyed amatörastronomer." Sajten erbjuder en satellit tracker när uppdrag är aktiva, och noterar X-37B "vanligen ser ut som en stjärna av faddrande ljusstyrka som rör sig över himlen."
“The Air Force owns two X-37B space planes, and one of them is finally back on the ground after an almost 2-year secret mission. While the unknown, how long is completed: 718 days in orbit, Space.com reports, with the unmanned plane landing Sunday morning at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida – and flying into the record books. It was the Air Force's fourth such mission since April 2010 and the longest so far. A fifth is planned for 2017, reports Reuters. There is much speculation about what the 29-metre-long plane, which looks like a mini-space shuttle, is up in. Reuters cites a group's conviction that secrecy indicates intelligence-related hardware tests are being conducted. An Air Force fact sheet offers this much: "The primary targets of X-37B are twofold; reusable spacecraft techniques for the future of the United States in space and operational experiments that can be returned to, and investigated, on Earth." A cool fact: Although its mission is classified, its location is not, thanks to what Space.com calls "keen-eyed amateur astronomers." The site offers a satellite tracker when missions are active, noting the X-37B "usually looks like a star of flaring brightness moving across the sky."