Mysterious Boeing X-37B drone didn't bomb Russia and China from orbit - U.S. Space Force reveals what the drone did in orbit for 908 days

The U.S. Space Force's secret X-37B unmanned space plane returned to Earth about two weeks ago after spending a record 908 days in orbit. The service decided to reveal a bit of information about what the mysterious drone was doing in space.

Here's What We Know

The X-37B landed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Station on Nov. 12. It completed its sixth mission, which lasted 908 days. The previous record for continuous flight was 780 days. It, too, was set by the X-37B spacecraft, but as part of the fifth mission.

U.S. Space Force officials say the unmanned aircraft conducted a series of scientific experiments at an altitude of about 400 kilometers above the Earth. The X-37B has demonstrated its value to the United States and the scientific community by allowing it to conduct experiments in orbit and deliver data for study.

The U.S. Space Force deigned to talk a little bit about the experiments conducted aboard the X-37B during the last sixth mission. The drone allowed a series of experiments to generate energy from solar panels and transmit it to Earth using microwave radiation. The U.S. wants to create a system that can efficiently extract energy from the Sun in space with subsequent delivery to consumers.

Also the space plane helped to put into orbit a training satellite with electromagnetic control, which was developed by cadets of the U.S. Air Force. Another task of the drone was the experiment Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space (METIS-2), conducted by the federal agency NASA. Its essence was to study the impact of space on different materials. Now they are delivered to NASA specialists for analysis. But it was known about it before.

There is no more information about the experiments. The lack of official data has generated a lot of speculation. For example, Dmitry Rogozin, former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, believes that X-37B may be used for espionage and is capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction. Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told the South China Morning Post that the drone can strike from space and its ability to change orbit allows it to track satellites.

Source: space