Dutch astronomer Ralf Vandeberg spotted something unusual in the sky, and no, it wasn’t a UFO, but rather the top secret U.S. Air Force X-37B spaceplane. So far, the public knows absolutely nothing about its mission, which has lead some conspiracy theorists to claim that the payload could be used for intelligence-gathering. “Thanks to the amateur satellite observers-network, it was rapidly found in orbit again and I was able to take some images on June 30 and July 2,” said Mr Vandebergh on Twitter. The craft measures about 29 feet (8.8 meters) long and 9.5 feet (2.9 m) tall, with a wingspan of less than 15 feet (4.6 m).
Nothing too clear can be made out, but what you can see is the spacecraft’s nose, the payload bay, and its tail. The image was captured with a 10-inch f/4,8 aperture Newtonian telescope with an Astrolumina ALccd 5L-11 mono CMOS camera, while the spacecraft was manually tracked using a 6×30 finderscope. “The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth,” said an X-37B fact sheet produced by the Air Force.
- Interactive model – Inspire kids to build a representation of the Earth, Sun and Moon in orbit with this LEGO Technic Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit...
- Educational space toy – Kids can turn the crank to see how the Earth and the Moon orbit around the Sun
- Includes months and moon phases – This solar system toy includes printed details, like the month and moon phases to help kids see how the Earth’s...
