His own record of staying in orbit "broke" the mysterious robotic spaceplane X-37B of the US Air Force, surpassing 470 days in orbit, in an unspecified mission.
The craft, which visually resembles a miniature space shuttle, was launched on December 11, 2012 and passed, as part of the OTV-3 (Orbital Test Vehicle 3) mission, the previous record flights X-37B last Wednesday (March 26). Until recently, the record for the longest X-37B flight was 469 days, and was achieved by the OTV-2 mission, launched in 2011.
According to space.com, this vessel is the first of two spaceplanes of the type that have been built, and had made the first flight (OTV-1, 225 days) to 2010.
Secret missions X-37B
The unmanned X-37B is launched into the orbit of the Atlas 5 rocket from an aviation stand in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and on their return land at the Van den Berger Air Force Base in California. However, plans are being considered for using NASA's landing space center for landings.
Launch of the X-37B robotic space shuttle of the US Air Force for the third OTV-3 mission on December 11 2012.
As space.com reports, the X-37B is about ¼ the size of the space shuttle, yet its design is similar. It uses solar energy, has a weight of 4.990 kg and has a small cargo area. Its length is 8,8 meters and its width is 4,5. It can operate in orbits 177 – 805 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
It is one of the most well-known space "mysteries" of the modern era, and in all three missions the nature of the cargo carried by the vessels was unknown. Secrecy surrounding shipments and cargoes resulted in “cinjection» theories that the craft could be some kind of space weapon system, possibly designed to destroy satellites of other nations (although experts believe it is too small and not particularly maneuverable for such missions). According to the US Air Force, the overall goals of the program are twofold: to research and develop technologies for reusable spacecraft and to conduct experiments in space.
The program it was started in 1999 by NASA and was transferred to the US armed forces in 2004 (and in particular to DARPA), becoming classified. The Rapid Capabilities Office of the US Air Force is now responsible for the program.