At 20:07 EST on December 28, 2023, the U.S. Aerospace Aircraft X-37B was launched at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
The launch vehicle used this time has a relatively strong carrying capacity, and in the future deep space exploration, it has enough carrying capacity for the moon, Mars, and even the more distant Pluto.
What's more interesting is that after the launch of the launch vehicle, the booster was successfully launched, according to the requirements of the US Space Command, the live broadcast screen of the entire launch mission was directly cut off, and everyone only knows that the 7th launch mission of X-37B was successful, but the specific deployment to what orbit will no longer be disclosed.
This also means that after the launch of the American aerospace plane X-37B, no one knows where it went, and of course it is not clear what kind of mission it will perform in the next 200 days, or what kind of tests it will complete.
In fact, this situation is still understandable, because the X-37B aerospace aircraft project has always been a secret mission of the United States, so such a sneaky launch is normal!The so-called aerospace plane is a new type of aircraft that combines both aviation and aerospace fields, which can not only fly in the atmosphere but also enter satellite orbits
At present, the aerospace aircraft of all countries in the world are in the development and verification stage, such as China's Tengyun Engineering aerospace aircraft, as well as the United States' X-37B aerospace aircraft, in addition to the United Kingdom and India have aerospace aircraft, other countries do not have a complete aerospace aircraft development plan!
The most typical feature of an aerospace aircraft is that it needs to be launched by a launch vehicle, and when it returns to the ground, it can land like a normal airplane
The X-37 in the United States was originally proposed by NASA and developed by Boeing, but as more and more military applications were added to it, the X-37 aerospace aircraft began to be transferred to the management of the U.S. Space Force, and the code name also changed to X-37B.
The X-37B is more similar to the space shuttle in the United States, but it is smaller in scale, with an overall length of 88 meters, 4 meters wide5 meters, the wingspan can reach 45 meters and weighs 136 tons, after completing the mission in satellite orbit, it can re-enter the atmosphere and glide back to the ground like a normal plane!
The United States currently has a total of two X-37B space planes, and if you count this time, they have carried out a total of 7 space missions, the longest of which is the sixth space flight, with a flight time of 908 days in orbit, which is about two and a half years!Many people are curious, what does the aerospace plane rely on to provide it with energy?Do you still need to refuel?
The U.S. X-37B is actually similar to some probes in that it has solar panels that can be deployed, so it can fly in orbit for 908 days on the sixth mission. It is worth noting that just over two weeks ago, our aerospace aircraft also carried out its third launch mission.
Some experts believe that the X-37B of the United States has the ability to monitor, detect, and strike, and this is the most worrying thing. The so-called surveillance and reconnaissance are naturally aimed at the spacecraft of other countries in the orbit of the satellite, including the Chinese space stationIt is reported that the X-37B can enter orbit at an altitude range of 180-800 km, and can be used for orbit change flights at any time.
And like China's space station and some key satellite vehicles, all fly at an orbital altitude of 400 kilometers, if the US X-37B aerospace aircraft has the ability to approach and strike, this we must be fortified!
The U.S. Space Command was established in Colorado Springs in 2019 to monitor space activities and threats, respond to space crises, and protect the assets and interests of the United States and its allies in space
Just on December 15, 2023, the commander of the U.S. Space Command, James Dickinson, announced: This agency has reached full operational capability!
Will it become a new battlefield for ** civilizations in space in the future?
It can only be said that this possibility is very high, at least as more and more countries enter a new era of space exploration, there is competition while cooperating, but in the end it will eventually move towards the end of seeking common ground while reserving differences, after all, human civilization will become a whole after going to the deep space of the universe.
At present, the most work done by the US Space Command is to monitor space debris, the number of which exceeds 50,000, and they will pose a potential threat to the spacecraft around the earth while orbiting the earth
In the future, space will be very crowded, and as long as it is crowded, there will naturally be friction, and if there is friction, there will be contradictions at the same time, so the self-defense capability of space is naturally very important.
Black hole in the liberal arts, ** network invasion and deletion.