The American unmanned aerial vehicle X-37B was not observed by astronomers from July 29 to August 14. This was reported by the Australian website news.com.au. In May, amateur astronomer Ted Molzan from Toronto observed the X-37B flight and concluded that the device was testing the sensors installed on it, which would later be used on new reconnaissance satellites.
Since then, amateur astronomers have been monitoring the flight of the X-37B. However, on July 29, he disappeared and was first noticed by amateur astronomer from Cape Town, Greg Roberts. On August 14, he re-discovered the X-37B, but on a different trajectory and 30 km higher. Roberts helped establish the new location of the X-37B by colleagues from Rome and the US state of Oklahoma.
It turned out that if earlier the X-37B made a revolution around the Earth in four days, now it takes six days. According to Molzan, such changes may be due to testing of the maneuvering system or requirements for equipment placed on board.
Launched in April 2010, the unreported mission is expected to spend nine months in orbit. Externally, the X-37B is a smaller orbital stage of the American shuttle. The vehicle weighs almost 5 tons, the length is about 8.8 m, the wingspan is about 4.6 m. The spaceplane was created by the California-based Phantom Works company, which is part of the aerospace giant Boeing.
The development of the device cost millions of dollars, but the full cost has not been officially announced. The X-37 program was initially controlled by the NASA aerospace agency, then by the Pentagon's research and development unit, and later by the secret unit of the US Air Force.
The device has solar panels, which provides it with the ability to stay in orbit for up to 270 days. To change its orbit, it is equipped with a rocket engine and fuel reserves. Another important feature of the device is the ability to land on any part of the earth's surface. These features of the device make it difficult to track it in orbit and during landing. The carrying capacity of the X-37B allows a spy satellite to be launched into space.
Public figures who control the circulation of weapons fear that the launch of the X-37B could be the beginning of the process of militarizing outer space. According to the Pentagon, a second X-37B is currently under construction.
