INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
military space plane landed early Saturday after spending a record 908 days in orbit for its sixth mission and conducting science
experiments.The solar-powered vehicle, which looks like a miniature space shuttle, landed at NASA&s Kennedy Space Center
Its previous mission lasted 780 days.&Since the X-37B&s first launch in 2010, it has shattered records and provided our nation with an
unrivaled capability to rapidly test and integrate new space technologies,& said Jim Chilton, a senior vice president for Boeing, its
developer.For the first time, the space plane hosted a service module that carried experiments for the Naval Research Laboratory, U.S
Air Force Academy and others
The module separated from the vehicle before de-orbiting to ensure a safe landing.Among the experiments was a satellite dubbed the
FalconSat-8 that was designed and built by academy cadets in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory
It was deployed in October 2021 and still remains in orbit.Another experiment evaluated the effects of long-duration space exposure on
seeds.The X-37Be has now flown over 1.3 billion miles and spent a total of 3,774 days in space.The post Unmanned, solar-powered US space
plane back after 908 days first appeared on Ariana News.
