U.S. X-37B spacecraft set flight record on the 717th

The X-37B spacecraft, which the U.S. Air Force put into orbit for a closed mission, is said to have entered the latest flight on day 718. The longest record so far is 717 days, 20 hours and 14 minutes. The current orbiting X-37B spacecraft will not return to the ground since September 7, 2017, and it is not clear when it will return. Of course, you don’t even know what you’re doing in orbit.

The US Air Force has continued its Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) mission since 2010. The first mission was 224 days, but the flight time increased gradually over and over again, and the current OTV-5 mission is more than 718 days.

Comparing all the machines humanity has ever sent into space, the mission of the X-37B spacecraft is not longer. Earth observation satellites usually operate for five years or more. NASA’s Rover Curiosity has been on Mars for seven years, and Voyagers 1 and 2 have been providing information for more than 40 years since launch.

According to the status of the U.S. military, the X-37B spacecraft is aimed at reusable space technologies for the United States in the future and experiments that can be applied to the ground, but the specifics are unknown. It is said that the X-37B spacecraft was designed to be equipped with advanced equipment such as cameras, electronic sensors, and ground mapping radar. It could also mean the ability to put a spy satellite into orbit or bring it to the ground for repair. It is also said that they are experimenting with some kind of ion engine.

The US Air Force owns at least two X-37B spacecraft. It has a shape that can be called a small version of the space shuttle, with a size of 8.8m, a height of 2.9m, and a wing width of 4.6m. It is about the size of a medium and large bus.

The X-37B spacecraft launches vertically like a space shuttle and lands on the runway when returning. So far, all five launches have been made at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, but the return has been made at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and the fourth at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Related information can be found here .