![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() by Matt Bernardini Washington DC (UPI) Nov 12, 2021
The U.S. military's X-37B space plane finally came back to Earth on Saturday after spending 908 days in orbit. The robotic X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-6 touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:22 a.m. The 908 days in orbit was four months longer than any previous X-37B flight. The plane, which was built by Boeing, also carried a service module for the first time. "With the service module added, this was the most we've ever carried to orbit on the X-37B, and we're proud to have been able to prove out this new and flexible capability for the government and its industry partners," Jim Chilton, senior vice president at Boeing Space and Launch, said in a statement. The OTV-6 mission hosted the Naval Research Laboratory's Photovoltaic Radiofrequency Antenna Module, which was able to harness solar rays outside of Earth's atmosphere and transmit power to the ground, the U.S. Space Force said in a statement. "The X-37B continues to push the boundaries of experimentation, enabled by an elite government and industry team behind the scenes," Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, X-37B program director, said in a statement. "The ability to conduct on-orbit experiments and bring them home safely for in-depth analysis on the ground has proven valuable for the Department of the Air Force and scientific community." According to Space.com, while OTV-6 set a new mission-duration record for the X-37B program, it didn't come close to the overall spaceflight mark. The International Space Station has been continuously occupied by rotating astronaut crews since November 2000, and NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes remain operational in interstellar space more than 45 years after lifting off.
![]() ![]() Radar used for detecting satellites put on market Nanjing. China (SPX) Nov 14, 2022 In modern military operations, reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance have become major determinants of outcomes in combat. Great powers are unprecedentedly reliant on space-based assets, mostly low-orbiting satellites, to spy upon their rivals and adversaries, posing a challenge to those parties on how to detect spy satellites and take countermeasures. Experts have said that the first step in hiding something from snooping spacecraft must be knowing how many satellites are in orbit watch ... read more
![]() |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |