USAF launched another mysterious X-37B rocket into space

#X37B #AtlasV #USAF #OTV #NASA USAF has sent into space another unmanned X-37B rocket on a top secret mission and has kept the world guessing on what it is expected to achieve. It is understood that it is equipped with numerous technology experiments on board. This Atlas V mini-shuttle is the fourth X-37B flight for a top-secret military research program.
One of the theories doing the rounds is that it is a drone spy ship which is being used to monitor Chinese satellites. The thinking of Iran is that it is a space warplane carrying weapons - a claim dismissed by the Air Force.
Yet another theory is that it is basically a regular surveillance satellite over areas like the Middle East or to herd disused American orbiters home to be fixed.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 20 May 2015.

Boeing has built this spacecraft which is 29ft-long and has a wing span of 15ft and is approximately one-quarter the size of NASA's now-retired space shuttles. These vehicles are expected to serve as orbital test beds for future sensors and technologies.
As far as the X-37B group of orbital test vehicle OTV – the previous mission had returned after 674 days in 2014 while the first three flights spanned 1,367 days. The Air Force is not revealing the duration of this mission neither when nor where it will end.
The program had initially started with NASA before it was handed over to the military seven years later – this has raised a whole range of theories about its purpose.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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