A U.S. military space plane returned to Earth early Saturday after a record-breaking 908 days in the air.
The solar-powered vehicle, which looks like a mini space shuttle, made a successful landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The previous mission lasted over a year.
Since the first launch of the X-37B in 2010, it has shattered records and provided our nation with an unparalleled capability to rapidly test and integrate new space technologies.
For the first time, the space plane hosted a service module that was used to carry experiments. The module separated from the vehicle in order to land safely.
The FalconSat-8 was designed and built by academy students in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory. In October of 2021, it was deployed and is still in the air.
An experiment looked at the effects of space exposure on seeds.
The Chief of Space Operations said that the mission highlights the Space Force's focus on collaboration in space exploration and expanding low-cost access to space.
The X-37Be flew over 1.3 billion miles and spent 3,776 days in space.
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