The X-37B is just a week away from setting a new mission-duration mark.
The U.S. Space Force's robotic X-37B space plane is shown here in a 2009 photo at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The sixth X-37B mission launched into Earth orbit on May 17, 2020 and is still going.launched to Earth orbit on May 17, 2020 on the sixth mission for the program, a flight known as Orbital Test Vehicle-6 . minishuttle has now been aloft for 773 days. That's just a week shy of the X-37B record of 780 days, which was set on OTV-5.
One such experiment, from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory , investigates transforming solar power into radio frequency microwave energy. The experiment is called theWe also know that OTV-6 included the deployment of FalconSat-8, a small satellite developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy and sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory to conduct several experiments on orbit.
In addition, two NASA experiments are tucked onboard the space plane to study the effects of the space environment on a materials sample plate and seeds used to grow food. OTV-6 is the first X-37B mission to use a service module to host experiments. The service module is an attachment to the aft of the vehicle that allows additional experimental payload capability to be carried to orbit.Here's a roster of the previous X-37B missions, each of which lasted longer than its immediate predecessor:OTV-2 launched on March 5, 2011 and landed on June 16, 2012, spending over 468 days on orbit.
"Delta 9 Detachment 1 oversees operations of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, an experimental program designed to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S.
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