By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-06 20:41:54 | Updated at 2024-11-06 22:43:26
2 hours ago
The Pentagon has kept a tight lid on details about the Space Force's secretive spaceplane that is perpetually flying 500 miles above Earth's surface.
But the Department of Defense (DoD) has released a rare video showing the Boeing-built X-37B spacecraft performing a 'groundbreaking' maneuver to reach a new level of orbit using a first-of-its-kind aerobraking procedure.
The video showed the $200 million craft pointing its flat underside forward while directing the nose of the aircraft away from Earth.
The craft uses friction from Earth's atmosphere to slow down, treating it like a brake, allowing it to move into a different orbital position.
Boeing engineer John Ealy said: 'When we aerobrake, we utilize atmospheric drag to effectively step down our apogee one pass at a time until we get to the orbital regime that we want to be in.
'When we do this, we save enormous amounts of propellant, and that's really why aerobraking is important.'
The maneuver allowed X-37B to change its attitude, or the direction, pushing its flat 'belly' forward and pointing its nose up to face away from Earth below.
The X-37B, roughly the size of a small bus and resembling a miniature space shuttle, launched for its seventh mission on December 29, 2023 and is currently still conducting experiments for NASA before it will return to Earth.
Space Force released a video showing the X-37B spacecraft's 'groundbreaking' maneuver
The X-37B aircraft is the first of its kind to use the Earth's atmosphere to reach a new level of orbit using an aerobraking procedure that relies on the friction to slow it down
Space Force has not released information about the spacecraft's main function but has said it will conduct experiments involving 'space domain awareness technologies.'
This could mean that the new technology will be used to keep an eye on other traffic in orbit and observe what other spacecrafts are doing.
The seventh mission marks the first time Boeing has attempted to carry out the aerobraking maneuver.
Aerobraking is a method of slowing down a spacecraft by using the atmosphere or outer gas layers of a planet.
The space plane 'dips' into the atmosphere, and as it does, the molecules of gas in the atmosphere rub against the ship.
This acts as resistance and slows the ship down.
Often a ship will use aerobraking to change an orbit or slow a ship enough so that gravity will pull it down to a planet.
The recent achievement followed a previous missions with a goal to safely operate the plane.
'This first-of-a-kind maneuver from the X-37B is an incredibly important milestone for the US Space Force as we seek to expand our aptitude and ability to perform in this challenging domain,' General Chance Saltzman, the Space Force's chief of space operations said in a statement last month.
It was designed with a dual purpose of landing like an aircraft on a runway while the service module mounted on the back carries additional payloads, although Boeing has not specified what those will be.
The spacecraft pointed its nose away from Earth as the friction heated up its underside, causing the bottom to cast an orange glow and slow down the vehicle
'Once the aerobrake maneuver is complete, the X-37B will resume its test and experimentation objectives until they are accomplished, at which time the vehicle will deorbit and execute a safe return as it has during its six previous missions,' the Space Force said.
The seventh mission launched on top of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time, putting it at an undisclosed altitude.
According to the Space Force, it is gathering data for future crewed missions by exposing plant seeds to the harsh radioactive environment in space.
The un-crewed X-37B is a hybrid launch vehicle that can operate as a regular airplane or spacecraft, which was is built using a lighter structure instead of the traditional aluminum and measures 29 feet long, about one-fourth the size of a NASA space shuttle.
It has the ability to perform missions that last up to 270 days to 'support long-term space objectives,' according to Boeing.
The X-37B spacecraft launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in December
Holly Murphy, program director for Boeing's Experimental Systems Group, said in the video: 'X-37B missions have continuously advanced our nation's space capabilities by testing new technologies that reduce risk and inform our future space architectures. Mission seven is no different.'
Space Force's X-37B has so far spent roughly 10 months in orbit but the agency has yet to reveal when its seventh mission will conclude.
However, the aerobraking maneuver that brings it closer to Earth could indicate that it will be returning soon.
The video's release comes as China is testing its own spaceplane, called Shenlong, which recently spent 268 day's in orbit and completed its third mission on September 6.
China is the only other country in the world to have a reusable spacecraft and has raised concerns that these planes will be used to launch microsatellites that could be used for military applications, according to the China Morning Star.
