 operated by the US Space Force spent an incredible 908 days in orbit, far surpassing the previous record of 780 days. It made its historic return as sleeping people in Florida wrote they were "startled awake" by the sonic boom as the plane crashed through the sound barrier and touched down at Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre. On Twitter, one Floridian said: "Was startled awake by what sounded like an explosion. Came here and half of Florida is talking about a sonic boom. Nice to get confirmation that I'm not hearing things!" The OTV conducted research for NASA and the US Air Force ( U.S Space Force/Boeing/SWNS) Another wrote: "I heard a triple boom at 5.15am in Haines City, Florida. I thought someone jumped on my roof!" The OTV is known for its similarity in appearance to the space shuttle and enjoyed its sixth mission. Its job is to conduct experiments for contracted clients and this included a Naval Research Lab experiment about solar energy and helped launch the FalconSat-8 satellite for the US Air Force Academy and Air Force Research Laboratory. Several NASA experiments were also conducted and for the first time, a service module was added to the OTV. This separated before 'de-orbiting' for safety reasons, but was present on the craft to increase the number of payloads it can haul. The OTV has 'shattered records' since it was launched ( U.S Space Force/Boeing/SWNS) Built by Boeing, the company's Senior Vice Pr){kind=link}
A secretive Boeing spaceplane has touched down in Florida after a record-breaking 908 days in orbit. The plane, which conducted missions for NASA, woke up residents with a sonic boom as it zoomed through the sound barrier
A NASA spaceplane has landed waking residents with a sonic boom after a record-breaking 908 days in orbit.
After a record-breaking time in orbit, a secretive space plane finally touched back down to Earth on Saturday morning.
The Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) operated by the US Space Force spent an incredible 908 days in orbit, far surpassing the previous record of 780 days.
It made its historic return as sleeping people in Florida wrote they were “startled awake” by the sonic boom as the plane crashed through the sound barrier and touched down at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre.