At 8:07 p.m. ET on December 28, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX's massive Falcon Heavy rocket was launched, carrying a mysterious spacecraft. The SpaceX launch was a success, and the side booster also returned to Earth and landed safely.
It is understood that this time it is the military's space plane codenamed X-37B, which is an unmanned and autonomous vehicle, somewhat similar to a miniature space shuttle. The X-37B has no windows, and when it returns to Earth, it can land on the runway like an airplane.
The X-37B's mission and movements are strictly secret, and the X-37B can maneuver multiple times in space to change orbit in order to evade tracking. It can also be hidden from the glare of the sun. With a heavy rocket, the X-37B can reach lunar orbit and even Martian orbit. Previously, the X-37B had flown in space for more than 3,700 days, and the mission was also classified, and the last time the spacecraft flew in space for nearly 909 consecutive days.
Interestingly, the launch was supposed to take off on December 10, but it has been postponed twice. During this time, the United States reported that China launched a secret spacecraft with a Long March-2 rocket. Originally, SpaceX postponed the mission indefinitely on the grounds of performing additional system checks. As a result, due to pressure from the Chinese side, the launch took place on the 28th. Personally, I still feel quite proud of this, and I agree with it!
Aerospace