X-37b Space Plane Now On Secret Mission

April 25th, 2010 - 7:51 pm ICT by GD  

By Ranjan Bhaduri
Apr 25 (THAINDIAN NEWS) It has been reported that an unmanned aircraft owned by US Air force has taken off amidst a veil of mystery from Florida. The X-37B robotic space plane was placed atop a powerful Atlas V rocket. The launch took place on Thursday. The x-37 b space plane looks similar to a spacecraft and it is 8.9m long. The spacecraft has been in the making for quite some time and the US air force has not revealed why a spacecraft has been incorporated in the military arsenal.

The US air Force has remained tight lipped about the duration of the mission of the X-37 B. It will land at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base. The plane can stay in space for months at a stretch. The US Air Force flight controllers will keep a tab on the navigation of the spacecraft. However, the US air force has not said what the plane is carrying. Even the Pengaton is tightlipped on the mission of the plane. Millions of dollars have reportedly been spent in developing the plane.

The industry experts are of the opinion that the plane has been launched for top-secret military purposes. It has been made by Boeing. Actually the responsibility of developing it was with NASA and later it handed over the project to US Air Force. In Space the plane will derive the required power by lithium-ion batteries and Solar cells. A second prototype of space plane built on the model will be launched in the next year. The US air force has recorded a video of the launch.

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