The U.S. Air Force's spacecraft known as X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is preparing to launch once again this May from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for its sixth mission, and for once, the public is given a slight idea of what its mission will be.
Disclosing X-37B's Mission
This is somewhat of a surprise, especially since the public does not really know what the spacecraft is for and what it does since the Air Force has been secretive with the unmanned craft's missions and fueling different speculations and theories among the general public and anyone without high-security clearance.
Nevertheless, it is believed that the spacecraft is focusing on technology experiments on sensors and satellites, according to Newsweek.
Now, for the first time, people won't have to speculate that much as some of the reasons behind the missions were disclosed.
In a webinar hosted by the Space Foundation this Wednesday, Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett, who appeared alongside General John W. Raymond, said that the Air Force's Rapid Capability Office had joined forces with both the Air Force Reserve Research Lab and the US Space Force to launch a mission that will maximize the spacecraft's "unique capabilities."
The Space Force will be responsible for the unmanned craft's launch, operations while it is in orbit, as well as its landing.
Hosting More Experiments Than Before
She also disclosed that the launch will take place on May 16 and that this is an important mission that will host more experiments than any of the previous flights X-37B took, including a couple of NASA experiments.
"One is a sample plate evaluating the reaction of select significant materials to the conditions in space. The second studies, the effect of ambient space radiation on seeds. A third experiment, designed by the Naval Research Laboratory, transforms solar power into radiofrequency microwave energy, then studies transmitting that energy to Earth," Barrett explained.
The seed experiments and the sample plate are for NASA, the Air Force said.
In addition, the mission, which is known as Orbital Test Vehicle-6 (OVT-6) and Space Force-7, will be deploying a FalconSat-8, which is a small satellite that was developed by the US Air Force Academy with the sponsorship of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The small satellite will be conducting several experiments while it is orbiting in space.
It has already carried out five separate experiments on its own in the past, according to LiveScience.
The Mystery of the Spacecraft
The X-37B program first began in 1999, but it wasn't until around a decade later in 2010 that it first launched.
In total, it has already spent 2,865 days in orbit after its five missions, which included a record of 780 days in orbit from its last mission that just ended last October.
Apparently, there are two X-37B spacecraft that are owned by the Air Force.
The US military uses them to test out a variety of technologies in the space environment and then return the gear back to the surface for the analysis, but most of the payloads that are being launched are classified, thus why the spacecraft and its missions are shrouded in mystery.
