It was the second X-37B launch of a spacecraft's mission within a year. The first test flight lasted seven months. The second flight will serve to further coordination and for comparing the results of the maiden flight, it said. The latest model is equipped with an improved landing system, which will put the miniature space ship even with strong wind, like the newspaper Florida Today "reported.
At the X-37B space ships are a type of unmanned mini-version of the Space Shuttle. They are 8.90 meters long, has a wingspan of 4.5 meters and weighing nearly five tons. The "Space Plane", which is powered from batteries and solar cells with energy, is constructed to orbit the earth at a relatively shallow orbit and then to land on her.
The orbiter is designed for flights of up to 270 days. The Air Force suggested, however, extend beyond the second flight. "We could expand the mission to explore the possibilities of the aircraft to better understand," said program manager Lt. Col. Troy Giese of the newspaper. "We must always keep in mind that this is an experimental aircraft," said Richard McKinney from the U.S. Air Force. "This is just the second start and we have only just begun to test the system thoroughly."
It is unclear what future tasks take the military for the mini-space ship in the eye. The secret program of the Air Force has therefore already led to speculation and criticism. The first "Space Plane-launch last year Russia had accused the U.S. of wanting to militarize space, but which Washington rejected. The Air Force insists that the core of the mission were only testing for new technologies such as for navigation.
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