TEHRAN, Sept 02 - The ultra-top-secret US Air Force X-37B spaceplane has broken the record for the longest time in space for a terrestrial aircraft, with an immense 717 days and counting.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Built by Boeing, the 29-feet long and 9.6-feet high craft has been shrouded in mystery and speculation since its first mission in 2010.
With a wingspan of nearly 15 feet, the craft is launched vertically into space while strapped to a rocket, but lands rather traditionally on a runway. The current record-breaking mission (OTV-5) was launched in September 2017 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Like each of its predecessor missions, it has broken the previously held records for time spent in orbit.
What initially began as a NASA investigation into developing cheaper reusable space shuttles is now an ultra-secretive US military project.
“The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold; reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth,” Air Force officials wrote of the endeavor.
Source:RT
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