After two and a half years in space, the X-37B spaceplane returned to Earth. It landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking its sixth successful mission.
The agency wouldn't say what the Boeing-built spaceplane does, but it did say that it was deployed in October of 2021. The small satellite is in the air. The Naval Research Laboratory has a module that converts solar rays into microwaves that can be used to transmit power to the ground.
The spaceplane, which looks like a smaller version of NASA's Space Shuttle, took flight in 2010, but we haven't learned much about its purpose since. The X-37B carried a small number of satellites into space prior to this mission.
NASA tested space exposure on seeds to help inform space crop production for future interplanetary missions and the establishment of permanently inhabited bases in space, as part of an experiment on board the spaceplane. NASA will compare the effects of space radiation on different materials here on Earth.
The senior vice president of Boeing Space and Launch said in a statement that the X-37B has shattered records and provided the nation with an unparalleled capability. We are proud to have been able to prove out this new and flexible capability for the government and its industry partners after adding the service module.
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