If the weather cooperates, the Air Force's robotic X-37B unmanned space plane will land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, following 22 months in orbit. What the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, made by Boeing and resembling a miniature space shuttle, was doing in space is classified, as is why the Air Force has a space drone in the first place — though there has been lots of speculation.
This is the third X-37B mission, and the longest by far: 662 days as of Monday, according to Space.com. Its first mission, using the same spacecraft and starting in 2010, lasted 225 days; its second mission, using a second craft, lasted 469 days. For what it's worth, Boeing says the Orbital Test Vehicle is meant to "explore reusable vehicle technologies in support of long-term space objectives," including "space experimentation, risk reduction, and concept of operations development," plus hopefully "making space access more routine, affordable, and responsive."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Elon Musk and Wikipedia are at oddsThe Explainer The online encyclopedia is being accused of being far-left propaganda
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study findsSpeed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
'Eras are an imprecise tool to make sense of the messy past'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an eggSpeed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energySpeed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
-
Blue Origin conducts 1st test flight of massive rocketSpeed Read The Jeff Bezos-founded space company conducted a mostly successful test flight of its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials saySpeed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was rightSpeed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular storiesSpeed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an oceanSpeed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mindSpeed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
