The mysterious American spacecraft returns to Earth

On the evening of June 16 (US time), the US Air Force's mysterious mini-spacecraft landed at Vandenberg base in California, ending a 469-day flight in orbit.

X-37B unmanned spacecraft

According to ABC News, X-37B unmanned spacecraft landed at 5:48 am 16/6 local time (19h48 VN time) after being delayed for several days due to bad weather.

Designed and built by Boeing, the X-37B is 8.8 meters long and has a wingspan of 4.5 meters. It looks like a scaled-down version of NASA's shuttle that is now 'retired'.

This ship was launched into orbit on March 5, 2011. Previously, it was launched on April 22, 2010 and returned to Earth on December 4, 2010, but at that time very few people knew about it due to its mission being classified. honey.

In the face of this intolerance, many suspected X-37B was used to gather intelligence or to test new technologies.

Currently, the US Air Force retains the X-37B-related information. In the June 16 release, they just said it 'conducted experiments on orbit' during their flight and did not reveal anything more. The statement also said they would re-launch X-37B later this fall with Atlas V. rocket boosters.

Meanwhile, Lt. Tom McIntyre, X-37B program manager, said: "With the retirement fleet, the X-37B program offers a remarkable ability to develop space technology." .