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Old 7th Sep 2017, 20:00
  #78 (permalink)  
ORAC
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
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The most telling comments here is "as has become customary".....

SpaceX launches top-secret space shuttle before Irma hits Florida

SpaceX launched the US air force’s super-secret space shuttle on Thursday, blasting off from Kennedy space center in Florida as schools and businesses boarded up for Hurricane Irma. The crewless aircraft, a technology testing mini-shuttle capable of spending years in orbit, rode an unmanned Falcon rocket on the fifth such flight.....

As has become customary, SpaceX landed its leftover booster back at Cape Canaveral for eventual reuse.

This was the first time SpaceX has provided a lift for the experimental minishuttle. The previous missions relied on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rockets. Air force officials said they wanted to use a variety of rockets for the X-37B program, to be able to launch quickly if warranted...... At the air force’s request, SpaceX stopped providing details about the X-37B’s climb to orbit a few minutes after liftoff. The booster’s return to SpaceX’s landing zone at Cape Canaveral air force station, however, was broadcast live.

“The Falcon has safely landed,” a SpaceX launch controller announced. Cheers erupted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It was SpaceX’s 16th successful return of a first-stage booster......

And an absolutely f***ing awesome video....


Last edited by ORAC; 7th Sep 2017 at 20:18.
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