Air Force's Mystery Space Plane Lands, Ends 2-Year Mission
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:30 pm
The Air Force’s X-37B successfully lands at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Fla., following a record-breaking two-year mission, in this Oct. 27, 2019, photo released by the U.S. Air Force.
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - The Air Force's mystery space plane is back on Earth, following a record-breaking two-year mission.
The X-37B landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Sunday. The Air Force is mum about what the plane did in orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket in 2017. The 780-day mission sets a new endurance record for the reusable test vehicle.
It looks like a space shuttle but is one-fourth the size at 29 feet.
Officials say this latest mission successfully completed its objectives. Experiments from the Air Force Research Laboratory were aboard.
This was the fifth spaceflight by a vehicle of this sort. No. 6 is planned next year with another launch from Cape Canaveral. According to Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, "Each successive mission advances our nation's space capabilities."