© space.comX-37B
The U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office has decided to extend the trip of the secretive X-37B experimental robotic space plane, which is pushing its own orbital record.
The X-37B, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle-2, is a mysterious unmanned craft that was built by Boeing Co.'s Space and Intelligence Systems unit in Huntington Beach. It is a 29-foot space plane that is the second of its kind, and has been circling the Earth since its launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida earlier this year.
The Air Force has said that the X-37B is used to test new technologies in space, but some industry analysts believe that it is a test unit for a potential orbiting weapon, which could disable foreign satellites or drop bombs as it makes its way around the Earth.
© af.milX-37B taxiing on a runway in 2009
The X-37B was supposed to land 270 days after launch, but the Air Force is extending the space plane's mission with no exact landing date in sight.
"We initially planned for a nine-month mission, which we are roughly at now, but we will continue to extend the mission as circumstances allow," said Lt. Col Tom McIntyre, the spacecraft's systems program director. "Keeping the X-37 in orbit will provide us with additional experimentation opportunities and allow us to extract the maximum value out of the mission.
"We are learning new things about the vehicle every day, which makes the mission a very dynamic process."
Maybe thats a good thing but I would like to know exactly what it is for we the people should be told what its purpose is,not just continue paying for things like this without knowing what its about.At least a general description and plan for it,after all it is our tax money paying for this isnt it?