Second US 'secret space warplane' now in orbit Military
minishuttle's mystery mission The second X-37B "secret space
warplane" operated by the US military has successfully reached
orbit at the beginning of a classified mission, whose intent and
duration remain unknown. At the spaceplane-in-a-tin factory The
X-37B is a small unmanned space plane with a cargo bay said to
be about the same size as that of a pickup truck. It is launched
into space inside a fairing atop a normal launch stack, and on
arrival in orbit deploys a solar array allowing a protracted
mission (a Space Shuttle, which carried a crew and used fuel
cells for power, could not stay up unassisted nearly as long).
The little spaceplane features a powerful engine allowing it to
change orbit as desired – and the fact that it is reusable means
that its operators are less constrained to save fuel in order to
prolong lifespan as they would be with a normal satellite.
Having completed its mysterious mission, the X-37B furls its
solar array, closes its p