The Air Force launched its third mission of its Orbital Test Vehicle, the X-37B, on December. 11, 2012, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Air Force X-37B space plane

 

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(CNN) -- The U.S. Air Force's mysterious unmanned space plane, the X-37B, is about to come back to Earth after more than two years in orbit on a mission the military won't tell us much about.

The X-37B is expected to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Air Force said.

The base did not give an exact time for the landing, but a notice to aviators and mariners on the Federal Aviation Administration's website said airspace around the Southern California base would be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT Tuesday.

"Team Vandenberg stands ready to implement safe landing operations for the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, the third time for this unique mission," Col. Keith Baits, commander of the 30th Space Wing, said in a statement.

The X-37B, which looks like a small space shuttle, lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on December 11, 2012. At the time, the Air Force said its mission would last about nine months.

The X-37B "is designed to demonstrate reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth," an Air Force statement said.

"Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing."

But as the spacecraft has been in orbit for more than 22 months, speculation on other uses abounds, including testing of a secret space weapon or spying activities.

The previous mission of the X-37B, which landed at Vandenberg on June 11, 2012, lasted 469 days, according to the Air Force. That mission was flown by the second of the Air Force's two X-37B orbiters. The current mission is the second for the first of the orbiters, which was refurbished after it spent 224 days in orbit following an April 2010 launch.

When the current mission launched, the Air Force said it might not be the last.

"Officials anticipate multiple missions will be required to satisfy the test program objectives, but the exact number of missions has not been determined," a statement said.

The X-37B spacecraft is 29 feet, 3 inches long and 9 feet, 6 inches high with a wingspan of 14 feet and 11 inches. It weighs about 5.5 tons. It is lifted into space by United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rockets.

神秘空軍空天飛機很快降落
由布拉德Lendon，美國有線電視新聞網
二○一四年十月十三日 - 更新2243 GMT（0643 HKT）
空軍推出了軌道試驗飛行器，在X-37B，它的第三次訪問十二月。 11，2012年，從佛羅里達州卡納維拉爾角。 空軍推出了軌道試驗飛行器，在X-37B，它的第三次訪問十二月。11，2012年，從佛羅里達州卡納維拉爾角。
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美國空軍X-37B空天飛機
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新聞提要
無人駕駛的X-37B看起來像一個小型航天飛機，
空天飛機已在軌運行時間超過22個月
空軍表示，X-37B的任務是展示技術
猜測比比皆是有關秘密武器，間諜活動
（CNN） -美國空軍神秘的無人駕駛空天飛機的X-37B，即將後在軌兩年多的任務回到地球軍不會告訴我們很多關於。
在X-37B預計將降落在范登堡空軍基地在美國加州，空軍說。
該基地沒有給登陸的確切時間，但通知上的聯邦航空管理局的網站上的飛行員和海員說，周圍的南加利福尼亞基地的空域將被封閉，從上午8點到下午5點PT週二。
“范登堡隊隨時準備執行對X-37B軌道試驗飛行器，第三次為這個獨特的使命安全的登陸作戰，”上校基思餌，第30太空聯隊的指揮官，在一份聲明中說。
在X-37B，它看起來像一個小型航天飛機從卡納維拉爾角佛羅里達州升空，12月11日，2012年當時，空軍表示，它的任務將持續約九個月。
在X-37B“旨在演示可重複使用的航天器技術，為美國在其中可以返回，並研究，地球上的空間和操​​作實驗的未來，”空軍聲明中說。
“技術方案進行測試，包括先進的制導，導航與控制，熱防護系統，航空電子設備，高溫結構和密封，可重複使用的保形保溫，輕便的機電飛行系統，並自主軌道飛行，再入和著陸。”
但由於飛船已在軌運行時間超過22個月的猜測其他用途豐富，包括一個秘密太空武器或諜報活動的測試。
在X-37B，這在范登堡空軍基地降落在2012年6月11日以前的使命，持續469天，根據空軍。該任務是飛行由空軍的兩架X-37B軌道飛行器的第二次。目前的任務是第二次為第一次的軌道器，這是翻新後，花了224天在軌道下的2010年4月推出。
當電流發射任務，空軍表示，它可能不會是最後一次。
“官員預期多任務須滿足測試計劃目標，但任務的確切人數尚未確定，”聲明中說。
在X-37B航天器為29英尺3英寸長9英尺6英寸高，14英尺和11英寸的臂展。它重約5.5噸。它由聯合發射聯盟的Atlas V型火箭吊裝到空間。