|
|
An Air Force statement said the landing was executed "safely and successfully" by the country's "newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft." No pilots are needed for landing -- it lands itself autonomously (automatically, without the need of human pilots).
The launch of the X-37B was on March 5, 2011. It was rocketed into space by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
This is the second flight of the X-37B OTV, with the first one occurring in 2010. A third classified mission of the X-37B, which is manufactured by The Boeing Company's Experimental Systems Group, is expected later in 2012, probably around October.
For a video of the X-37B landing, please go to YouTube video: ”Military Secret X-37B Mini Space Shuttle Lands in California 6/16/2012".
Its caption states, "The US military's unmanned X-37B robotic space shuttle returned from orbit at 5:48 a.m. in California (1248 GMT)from a secretive 15-month test flight, Air Force officials said on Saturday."
And, "The miniature space plane, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle-2, or OTV-2, touched down at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, 130 miles (209 kilometres) northwest of Los Angeles. It was only the second US vehicle to make an autonomous runway landing from space. (Reuters)
