Air Force X-37B space plane books time beyond regulation on orbital cruise, orders another margarita

In case your secret space plane’s in orbit and doing its secret thing well enough, why bother bringing it home? This seems to be the mindset of the Air Force regarding its experimental X-37B space plane , the billion-dollar robotic vehicle’s orbital flight being extended beyond the 270 days it was initially designed for. While the Air Force has stated that the vehicle is intended just for conducting orbital science experiments, analysts say the X-37B is in a position to way more, and will perform additional tasks similar to acting as an orbital spy, sneaking up on and tampering with enemy satellites or hauling small batches of supplies to the International Space Station . Perhaps the foremost interesting thing is that the X-37B could stay in orbit for that for much longer. Although the Air Force said last year that the X-37B could last nine months above the heavens before its power and fuel ran out, an inside source commented that “it sips power and fuel like a Prius.” Click in the course of the break for the complete X-37B schematics, which — crazily enough — look nothing like a Prius.

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This post is tagged: bringing it home, international space station, orbital flight, orbital science, robotic vehicle, science experiments