Top secret American spy plane returns to Earth after seven months… but U.S. still won’t say what it was doing in space

[Unhypnotized]

X37B - It's Baaaaaack!

X-37B ORBITAL TEST VEHICLE LANDS AT VANDENBERG AFB
Vandenberg AFB News Release
2010 December 3

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The U.S. Air Force's first
unmanned re-entry spacecraft landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base at
1:16 a.m. PST today.

The X-37B, named Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1), conducted on-orbit
experiments for more than 220 days during its maiden voyage. It fired
its orbital maneuver engine in low-earth orbit to perform an
autonomous reentry before landing.

The X-37B is the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft. Managed
by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO), the X-37B program
performs risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations
development for reusable space vehicle technologies.

"Today's landing culminates a successful mission based on close
teamwork between the 30th Space Wing, Boeing and the Air Force Rapid
Capabilities Office," said Lt Col Troy Giese, X-37B program manager
from the AFRCO. "We are very pleased that the program completed all
the on-orbit objectives for the first mission."

OTV-1's de-orbit and landing mark the transition from the on-orbit
demonstration phase to a refurbishment phase for the program.

The Air Force is preparing to launch the next X-37B, OTV-2, in Spring
2011 aboard an Atlas V booster.​

Blah Blah yeah right.

Next; Online here are some post-flight picture of the thing.


Exhibit 1: It is back. I am a bit curious about the stains near the bay doors, but most likely some kind of fuel leak,

Exhibit B:

Perhaps a very silly question but... a least I beat Bill to it.

"Where has this vehicle been that requires treatment the shuttle doesn't?"

When you look over the rest of the pictures it seems we have learned something new about space.... It is filthy out there!!

 

[Unhypnotized]

Daily Mail
Dec 4, 2010

The U.S.’s first unmanned re-entry spacecraft landed at an airfield today, seven months after it was launched.

The X-37B’s exact purpose remained shrouded in secrecy when it touched-down at at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast 130 miles north west of Los Angeles.

It was launched by an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 22, with a maximum mission duration of 270 days and is suspected of being an advanced spy plane.

Also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, the Boeing-built spacecraft was originally a NASA project before being taken over by the military.

Jeremy Eggers, a spokesman for Vandenberg Air Force Base, described the successful landing as ‘very exciting’ and said the X-37B was due to return to space next year.

He said would not say whether it carried anything in its cargo bay, but insists the primary purpose of the mission was to test the craft itself.

Theories have abounded following the secretive launch, with some experts suggesting the spacecraft is America’s attempt at gaining the military dominance of space.

‘We are very pleased that the program completed all the on-orbit objectives for the first mission,’ programme manager Lt. Col. Troy Giese said in a statement.

Full story here.



Source...