07-12-10 X-37B test mission called big accomplishment

The X-37B – the Air Force’s experimental,unmanned spaceship with a classified mission – ended its maiden voyage Friday.It spent more than 244 days orbiting the planet and guided itself to Vandenberg Air Force Base,Calif.,without the help of human navigation.And while Air Force personnel are studying the ship and analyzing the data,the service’s top official for space programs called the X-37B’s mission a “tremendous accomplishment.” “For the first flight,we’re extremely pleased with the outcome of the entire mission of the X-37B,” said Richard McKinney,the deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space programs.The only physical damage seen so far has been seven areas where space debris collided with the aircraft.It also blew out a tire upon landing.McKinney,meeting with reporters at the Pentagon on Monday,said he wasn’t sure if that stemmed from a collision on the runway,a problem with the tire itself or something else.The X-37B,with its possibility to stay in orbit for 270 days,could give the Air Force an ability it lacks:sending a satellite into orbit for months,seeing how it operates and returning it to Earth for more thorough analysis.The Air Force had remained largely quiet on the X-37B’s mission since it launched earlier this year.That led to rabid speculation online and from foreign countries,with theories ranging from a sophisticated surveillance craft to a satellite-killer that could paralyze hostile countries’ space programs.McKinney effectively shot down those ideas during the hour-long discussion.“This is a test vehicle to prove the materials and capabilities,to put experiments in space and bring them back and check out the technologies,” he said.“My words to others who might read anything else into that is ‘just listen to what we’re telling you.’” “This is,pure and simple,a test vehicle so we can prove technologies and capabilities.”Still,the experiments placed on board the spacecraft and the program’s budget remain classified.The 29-foot-long spacecraft has a cargo bay about the size of the bed of a pickup truck,and a solar array to keep it powered.Its landing was totally autonomous:the spacecraft folded up the solar array,thrust toward the earth,flew a zigzag pattern to burn off the energy the tiles absorbed from the friction of the atmosphere and landed on the runway at Vandenberg.No human was at the control to possibly override the spacecraft’s controls,said program manager Lt.Col.Troy Giese.The only such possibility was a kill switch to abort the landing procedures in case of an emergency.The program began in 1999 and has involved the Air Force,NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.Boeing built the first X-37B and is building a second craft,which should launch in spring 2011.McKinney stressed the X-37B remains an experimental aircraft – and it’s still too early to draw too many conclusions about the program.“Test aircraft have hundreds,if not thousands of test flights,” he said.“We’ve had one flight.We are really at the very beginning of this.”