The United States Space Force’s secretive X-37B space plane touched down to earth on Friday after spending 434 days in orbit conducting mysterious tests.

The unmanned Boeing-made aircraft landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:22 a.m. EST having "broke new ground" by completing a range of test and experimentation objectives, the USSF said in a statement.

The space plane was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida by SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket in 2023 in what was its seventh mission. The aircraft is solar-powered, reusable and operated remotely. Space.com noted that most of its payloads remain classified.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/space-forces-mysterious-x-37b-plane-returns-earth-after-434-days-orbit

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3 Comments

  1. JamesLahey08 on

    I wonder why they would have to land at 2 AM? Why not land it during normal working hours when operators are awake and at their highest level of mental function? Sounds unnecessarily risky.