X-37B sets new in-orbit record
The Space Force’s X-37B reusable mini-shuttle that is presently in orbit has now set a new mission record, spending more than 781 days in orbit.
As of today (July 7), the X-37B has been in Earth orbit for 781 days, breaking its previous record of 780. The reusable vehicle designed and built by Boeing is currently flying on its sixth mission, known as Orbital Test Vehicle-6 or OTV-6, which launched on May 17, 2020.
During this long flight one of the spacecraft’s few unclassified experiments successfully tested the conversion of solar power into beamed microwave energy.
The second X-37B in the fleet remains on the ground, having completed its 780 day mission in October 2019. We also do not know when the military will order the return of the X-37B in orbit. Only then will the mission really be a success.
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The Space Force’s X-37B reusable mini-shuttle that is presently in orbit has now set a new mission record, spending more than 781 days in orbit.
As of today (July 7), the X-37B has been in Earth orbit for 781 days, breaking its previous record of 780. The reusable vehicle designed and built by Boeing is currently flying on its sixth mission, known as Orbital Test Vehicle-6 or OTV-6, which launched on May 17, 2020.
During this long flight one of the spacecraft’s few unclassified experiments successfully tested the conversion of solar power into beamed microwave energy.
The second X-37B in the fleet remains on the ground, having completed its 780 day mission in October 2019. We also do not know when the military will order the return of the X-37B in orbit. Only then will the mission really be a success.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
To have sufficient consumables preserved to re-enter and land on a runway after 2+ years in orbit is impressive. Boeing must know how to do a few things that SpaceX has yet to demonstrate, but will certainly need to learn!
Ray, that is very true and what is so very frustrating about current-day Boeing. They can accomplish things like this, but yet when I look at the fiasco which is the Starliner it makes me grind my teeth.
These spooky types get the best funding—and won’t share their secrets. Just having those tiles stay adhered to an airframe after years of being cold-soaked and then subjected to re-entry—where Musk can’t keep them on a room temperature?
This is why I believe in public funding space. Remember how we lost “Fogbank?”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogbank
You have to keep tribal knowledge alive.
With libertarianism it’s all about money.
I am concerned with preservation of capability.
Now, we’re I President, I would have Space Force fund Starship and have the Phantom Works also look at it to get the best of both worlds.
Starship deserves better than Salvage One tech.