{"id":18818,"date":"2017-09-07T22:17:16","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T14:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-launches-air-forces-secret-x-37b-space-plane-as-hurricane-irma-nears\/"},"modified":"2017-09-07T22:17:16","modified_gmt":"2017-09-07T14:17:16","slug":"spacex-launches-air-forces-secret-x-37b-space-plane-as-hurricane-irma-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-launches-air-forces-secret-x-37b-space-plane-as-hurricane-irma-nears\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches Air Force\u2019s secret X-37B space plane as Hurricane Irma nears"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_360664\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-360664\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-360664\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex21-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 launch\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex21-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex21-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex21-1260x840.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex21.jpg 1360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-360664\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Launch Complex 39A, sending the Air Force\u2019s X-37B space plane into space. (SpaceX via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX launched the Air Force\u2019s X-37B robotic space plane on its latest months-long, classified mission today \u2013&nbsp;marking another first for the company, with an oncoming hurricane adding to the pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Evacuations in advance of Hurricane Irma\u2019s Florida landfall have already begun, but SpaceX managed to get its Falcon 9 rocket launched, and its first-stage booster landed, at the end of a smooth countdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything proceeded nominally,\u201d SpaceX launch commentator Michael Hammersley said. \u201cWeather was looking potentially a bit tricky with those clouds, but ended up being a \u2018go.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Falcon 9 rose from Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT), sending the X-37B spaceward for the fifth mission of the test program. The four earlier launches were executed using United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket.<\/p>\n<p>In a tweet, Gen. Jay Raymond, who heads the Air Force Space Command, said the launch was a success.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Orbital Test Vehicle 5 (OTV-5) Mission\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9M6Zvi-fFv4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Air Force has never detailed exactly what the Boeing-built X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle or OTV, is designed to do. However, at least some of the mission objectives relate to testing in-space technologies with potential military applications.<\/p>\n<p>One of the experiments aboard the craft for OTV-5 is the Air Force Research Laboratory Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader, which is meant to test experimental electronics and heat transfer systems for long-duration spaceflight.<\/p>\n<p>The Air Force says OTV-5 will travel in a higher-inclination orbit than previous missions, to expand the operational envelope for the X-37B.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u-7VNf7DCY8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>X-37B flights typically last for months. The fourth test mission, which ended in May, lasted for 718 days and set a record for flying a reusable plane in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of each X-37B mission, the winged craft glides down from space to a horizontal runway landing.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX chalked up its own landing today. Minutes after launch, the Falcon 9\u2019s second stage separated to send the X-37B on its way to orbital deployment, and the first-stage booster began a series of rocket burns to put itself on a trajectory heading back to the Florida coast.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_360896\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-360896\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-360896\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex-landing-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 landing\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex-landing-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex-landing-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/170907-spacex-landing.jpg 1050w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-360896\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 first-stage booster touches down at Landing Zone 1 in Florida. (SpaceX Photo \/ Ben Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The booster made a smooth vertical landing at SpaceX\u2019s Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral, not far from the launch pad. That marked the seventh on-the-ground touchdown for SpaceX\u2019s rocket, with another nine landings made on autonomous drone ships at sea.<\/p>\n<p>Such landings are a big part of SpaceX\u2019s campaign for rocket reusability, which is expected to drive down the cost of access to space and eventually open up the way for flights to Mars and back.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, is due to update his long-term vision for Mars settlement later this month during the International Astronautical Congress in Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Launch Complex 39A, sending the Air Force\u2019s X-37B space plane into space. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX launched the Air Force\u2019s X-37B robotic space plane on its latest months-long, classified mission today \u2013&nbsp;marking another first for the company, with an oncoming hurricane adding to the pressure. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[437,4434,316,1011],"class_list":["post-18818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-air-force","tag-falcon-launch","tag-spacex","tag-x-37b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}