.jpg)
Top secret US military plane passes 900 days in orbit while on mystery mission
One of the most secretive missions under the US military has recently reached a milestone, as the X-37B plane hit 900 days in orbit
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
RELATED CONTENT VIDEO
Posted: 18 hours ago
Posted: May 3, 2022
Posted: May 17, 2020
Posted: Jun 25, 2021
Posted: May 22, 2020
Posted: Oct 28, 2019
Posted: 18 hours ago
Posted: Dec 2, 2019
Posted: May 6, 2020
China’s Secretive Spaceplane Has A Mysterious New Traveling Companion
'It’s been three months since a Chinese Long March 2F rocket sent a small, reusable spaceplane into orbit. The flight of the uncrewed secret craft has far eclipsed China’s previous record for this sort of vehicle, which visited space for just two days in 2020.
So whatever sort of mission this plane is on, it was already unprecedented before it went one step further and released an object in orbit, probably sometime last week.
The object first popped up in US Space Force data on Oct. 31, and according to Orbital Focus it initially traveled close enough to the spaceplane that observers wondered if it might be tethered.
But over the last few days tracking data shows they have begun to slowly separate and were about five kilometers apart as of Friday.
It’s not clear what the object is or its purpose. Chinese authorities have been quiet about the mission aside from a brief acknowledgment of the original launch of a space plane in August.
A similar object was deployed during that two-day spaceplane flight in 2020 that emitted microwave radio signals for weeks.
Here’s a few things we do know about China’s mysterious space plane program:
- The Space Shuttle-like uncrewed craft appears to be significantly smaller than the Boeing X-37B utilized by the US Space Force. An X-37B is currently in flight right now on a mission that has lasted over two years.
- China’s spaceplane program recently secured a significant amount of funding from the Chinese government.
- The country has also been testing a suborbital vehicle that could be capable of uber-fast point to point travel across the globe.
All other details about what exactly China is up to above our heads remain up in the air or now.
The X-37B is aloft now, and has been for quite some time: The program's sixth-ever mission lifted off on May 17, 2020. It's unclear when the X-37B will come back down to Earth.]
Is China's mysterious space plane about to return to Earth?
The latest orbital mission of China's mysterious space plane may be nearing its end.
The hush-hush vehicle, which launched to Earth orbit on Aug. 4, ejected something on Monday (Oct. 31), according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
The newly released object "may be a service module, possibly indicating an upcoming deorbit burn," McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said via Twitter (opens in new tab) on Monday.
Related: The latest news about China's space program
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...
The Chinese spaceplane launched on Aug 4 was in a 597 x 608 km x 50.0 deg orbit as of Oct 31; at around 1200 UTC it ejected an object (52418) that may be a service module, possibly indicating an upcoming deorbit burnNovember 1, 2022
See more
That's not the only possible explanation, however.
The ejected object could also be "a small satellite for monitoring the space plane," SpaceNews' Andrew Jones wrote in a story that posted today (opens in new tab) (Nov. 2). "Chinese crew capsules have previously released 'Banxing' small companion satellites for monitoring purposes. It could also be a test for deploying small satellite payloads into orbit."
Whatever the object is, its release probably heralds the mission's impending end — if a single previous data point is a reliable guide, anyway. The Chinese space plane has one other orbital mission under its belt, a two-day jaunt in September 2020 that ended shortly after a similar ejection, as Jones noted.
Such speculation is pretty much all we have to go on, for China has said very little about the space plane or its activities.
For example, this is how China's state-run Xinhua news agency described the mission (opens in new tab) (in Chinese; translation by Google) just after it lifted off in early August:
"The test spacecraft will be in orbit for a period of time before returning to the scheduled landing site in China, during which reusable and in-orbit service technology verification will be carried out as planned to provide technical support for the peaceful use of space."
Western experts think the mysterious vehicle is roughly the same size as the U.S. Space Force's robotic X-37B space plane, which is about 29 feet (8.8 meters) long. The U.S. military is tight-lipped about the Boeing-built X-37B as well, revealing details about only a select few of the payloads the space plane totes on its orbital missions.
The X-37B is aloft now, and has been for quite some time: The program's sixth-ever mission lifted off on May 17, 2020. It's unclear when the X-37B will come back down to Earth.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There (opens in new tab)" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
.jfif)
No comments:
Post a Comment