A United States Air Force space plane is quietly making its fourth mission into orbit Wednesday, for reasons that are top secret. The unmanned X-37B spacecraft, which NASA says is similar in design to some of its retired space shuttles, was made specially for the Air Force by Boeing.
What will this mysterious vessel be doing in space? "The test mission furthers the development of the concept of operations for reusable space vehicles, and fine-tunes technical parameters for an affordable, reusable space vehicle," Air Force spokesman Capt. Christopher M. Hoyler told The Times.
The New York Times offers a little bit more explanation:
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NASA is also taking advantage of this X-37B flight to test how almost 100 materials react to the harsh conditions of space, like the barrage of radiation and swings of temperature the craft will experience while passing between the day and night sides of the Earth for at least 200 days. [The New York Times]
Before you start speculating that this is all a cover for a Dr. Evil-esque plot to put a laser on the moon, know that the Pentagon has essentially already denied those kinds of extravagantly bellicose plans. Sorry!
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