Space plane Air Force
landed on separately in a military base in California, following a secret
mission 15 months. The unit conducted experiments in orbit after its launch in
March of 2011 the Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral in Florida, authorities
said. The unmanned spacecraft is the second of its kind to land autonomously on
Vandenberg Air Force, 209 kilometers (130 miles) northwest of Los Angeles.
In 2010, another
identical spacecraft returned to Earth following a seven-month mission and an
orbital path of 146.4 million kilometers (91 million miles). For his return
from space, the robot spacecraft X-37B, plump wings, fired its engines to get
out of orbit, traversed the atmosphere and planned as airplane to descend on
the track.
"Following the
withdrawal of the fleet of Space Shuttle, the X-37B OTV, uniquely promotes the
development of space technology," said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, program
manager of the X-37B.
"The ability of
returns (multiple) allows the Air Force testing new technologies without the
same exposure to the danger faced by other programs. We are proud of the
effective efforts of the entire team to achieve this remarkable conclusion of
the mission," he said. After the return of the second X-37B, the Air Force
plans to relaunch the first ship in the third quarter although no exact date.
Both vehicles twins are
part of a military program that experienced with technologies for reusable
spacecraft and robotic autonomous control. Although the Air Force emphasizes
that the aim was to test the spacecraft itself, the secret nature of the cargo
on board raises all sorts of speculation about the purpose of his mission.
Some experts believe
that the ship fans carrying a spy satellite experimental sensor due to the
inclination which was traveling at a low orbit, suggesting that sought
information and intelligence was not to telecommunications. Harvard
astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who runs Jonathan's Space Report publication,
which tracks space launches and satellites in the world, considered it possible
that the ship is testing a new imaging system.
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