First Photos: Secret X-37B Robot Space Plane Lands in Calif.
The U.S. Air Force’s mysterious X-37B robot space plane returned to Earth today (Dec. 3) with a successful landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California before sunrise.
Air Force officials hailed the unmanned X-37B space plane’s successful landing, though its mission remains shrouded in secrecy because of its classified nature. But Vandenberg’s 30th Space Wing did not shy from snapping photos of the X-37B vehicle, known as the Orbital Test Vehicle 1. Take a look at those first photos below:
Nose to Nose: X-37B space plane builder Boeing released this photo of the unmanned spacecraft just after its landing on Dec. 3, 2010.
The spacecraft spent 220 days in space before gliding to a predawn landing at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Much more at link