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June 17, 2012

Second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Successfully Completes 1st Flight

469-Day Mission Tested Capabilities Of 2nd Reusable Unmanned Vehicle

The Air Force is confirming the successful de-orbit and landing of the second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) for their Rapid Capabilities Office. The X-37B landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:48 a.m. Pacific time Saturday, concluding a 469-day experimental test mission. It was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on March 5, 2011. “We congratulate the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base on this second successful mission,” said Paul Rusnock, Boeing vice president of Government Space Systems.

Will Eventually Become The First Man-Made Object To Venture Beyond The Solar System

Data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft indicate that the venerable deep-space explorer has encountered a region in space where the intensity of charged particles from beyond our solar system has markedly increased. Voyager scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion - that humanity's first emissary to interstellar space is on the edge of our solar system.