After seven months in Earth’s orbit, the U.S. Air Force’s first unmanned reusable spacecraft, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, landed amid a shroud of secrecy at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Dec. 3.
The landing, overseen by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and performed remotely by an astronaut pilot, happened at 1:16 a.m. and wasn’t viewable by the media or the public. Vandenberg officials had prepared for the landing for months, including replacing 658 steel plates on the base’s three-mile runway to limit the risk of damage to the craft.
“Today’s landing culminates a successful mission based on close teamwork between the 30th Space Wing, Boeing, and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office,” Lt. Col. Troy Giese, the X-37B program manager, said in a prepared statement. “We are very pleased that the program completed all the on-orbit objectives for the first mission.”
With a wingspan of nearly 15 feet and weighing 11,000 pounds, the X-37B is powered by lithium ion batteries, which are recharged while the craft is in orbit. The craft launched aboard an Atlas-V rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 22. The cost and purpose of its maiden voyage were classified.
According to the Air Force, the remote-controlled X-37B can remain in orbit for up to 270 days. It allows for the testing of advanced guidance and navigation, autonomous orbital flight, thermal protection systems, and more.
Boeing first developed the X-37 as part of a NASA program before the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency took over the program in 2004. In 2006, the U.S. Air Force began developing the X-37B derivative for military applications.
The launch of the second X37B, the OTV-2, is scheduled for spring 2011.
This article appears in Dec 9-16, 2010.