SPACE — The US Department of Defense’s unmanned X-37B spy plane is one of the spacecraft that has caught the eye. He flew a secret mission whose destination is not yet fully known. But over the years, information about the aircraft, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), has been uncovered by accident.
The following are 10 known facts about the X-37B spacecraft:
Specifications and capabilities
The X-37B is a reusable and smaller version of one of NASA’s retired space shuttles. The X-37B was originally built by NASA in 1999. It is about 8.8 meters long and 2.9 meters high, with a wingspan of approximately 4.6 meters. It weighed 11,000 pounds or 4,990 kilograms when it was on the launch pad.
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Like most spacecraft, the X-37B takes off vertically and is propelled by rockets. Once in orbit, it is able to maneuver itself, and eventually lands on a runway on Earth like a conventional airplane.
The robot has a small payload capacity, roughly the size of a pickup truck bed, enabling it to carry equipment and satellites. According to its manufacturer, Boeing, the X-37B operates at an altitude of between 150 and 500 miles or 240 to 805 kilometers above Earth.
Taken over by the US Space Force
According to Space.comNASA delivered two X-37B aircraft to the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2004. After being operated by the US Air Force for many years, the spy planes came under the purview of the newly established US Space Force. in 2020.
The mission is very mysterious…
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