X37 returns in June

 
 
NASA TV:
·         1:30 am Central THURSDAY (2:30 EDT) –  Dragon unberthing coverage
·         3:05 am Central THURSDAY (4:05 EDT) – Station arm unberths Dragon from Harmony nadir
·         9:15 am Central THURSDAY (10:15 EDT) – Dragon deorbit & splashdown coverage
·         9:51 am Central THURSDAY (10:51 EDT) – Dragon deorbit burn
·         10:44 am Central THURSDAY (11:44 EDT – Dragon Splashdown (West of Baja California)
·         1:00 pm Central THURSDAY (2:00 EDT) – Post-Splashdown News Conference
 
Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday Afternoon, May 30, 2012
 
HEADLINES AND LEADS
 
SpaceX's Private Dragon Capsule Returns to Earth Thursday
 
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
 
After a more than a week in orbit, the private space capsule Dragon is preparing to return to Earth from the International Space Station and cap off its historic mission with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Dragon is due to be released from the station early Thursday and splash down a few hours later. The return to Earth is the last major hurdle for the groundbreaking spacecraft built by Hawthorne, Calif.-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX).
 
US cargo vessel prepares to leave space station
 
Kerry Sheridan - Agence France Presse
 
US company SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship is preparing to make its return journey to Earth after a landmark mission to the International Space Station, NASA and SpaceX representatives said Wednesday. The release of the unmanned Dragon is set for 5:35 am Eastern time (0935 GMT) on Thursday, with an intact splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California planned for 1444 GMT, NASA said. "We have a lot ahead of us on the SpaceX side," said mission director John Couluris in a briefing with reporters on the eve of the spacecraft's return after a seven-day mission to the orbiting outpost.
 
SpaceX success boosts NASA's venture with private companies
 
Ledyard King - Gannett News Service
 
Almost from the time he took over NASA in 2009, Charles F. Bolden Jr., has urged a skeptical Congress to replace the space shuttle with a rocket developed by a private company with the space agency's help. On Friday, Bolden earned the right to do a little gloating as California-based SpaceX became the first private firm to navigate a spacecraft to the International Space Station. "Today is, and I'm not overstating this, a day that will go down in history," the former shuttle commander told an enthusiastic audience at the International Space Development Conference.
 
NASA Statement on the untimely death of Dr. Michael Duncan
 
"The NASA community was saddened by the news of Dr. Michael Duncan's untimely and tragic death. Mike provided invaluable support in the space medicine field for NASA's space shuttle and International Space Station astronauts. He was one of the lead flight surgeons who supported the first landing by American astronauts in a Soyuz vehicle in Kazakhstan for Expedition 6 in May 2003. As the lead for the NASA team that provided assistance to the Chilean government's rescue of 33 trapped miners in a copper and gold mine near Copiapo, Chile, in 2010, Mike exemplified NASA's commitment to bring spaceflight experience back down to the ground and utilize it for people here on Earth. Our condolences go out to his family at this difficult time."
 
- Michael O'Brien, associate administrator for the International and Interagency Relations
 
Pilot, passenger identified from Monday's plane collision
 
David Pierce - Stafford County Sun (Virginia)
 
Men from Burke, Va. and Bethesda, Md. were killed in Monday's plane collision in Fauquier County. The Medical Examiner's office identified James "Mike" Duncan, 60, of Bethesda, Md. as the pilot and Paul Gardella, Jr., 57, of Burke, Va. as the passenger. Duncan and Gardella both worked for the National Transportation Safety Board.
 
'Shuttlebration Weekend' to welcome space shuttle replica to JSC
 
Michelle Homer - KHOU TV's Great Day Houston
 
A replica of the space shuttle is slowly making its way across the Gulf of Mexico on a journey to the Johnson Space Center. The 123-foot reproduction was loaded on a barge docked at Kennedy Space Center last Thursday for a piggyback ride to Houston. The Explorer will arrive in Galveston Bay on Friday, June 1, kicking off "Shuttlebration Weekend."
 
Magnus among top influential women in Title IX era
 
John Kean - Rolla Daily News (Missouri)
 
Former Missouri S&T women’s soccer player and Miner Athletic Hall of Fame member Sandra Magnus, a member of the crew that went into space on NASA’s final space shuttle mission last summer, was named by the Women’s Sports Foundation among a list of the 40 most influential women in athletics over the last 40 years. The recognition for Magnus comes with the upcoming 40th anniversary of Title IX as part of a “40 for 40” list of women who made a significant impact on society after playing sports at either the high school or collegiate level during the 40 years since Title IX came into effect in 1972.
 
Air Force spaceplane aims for June landing in CA
 
Associated Press
 
An unmanned U.S. Air Force spaceplane that has been in orbit for over a year is coming back to Earth. The Pentagon's experimental craft, which resembles a mini space shuttle, is slated to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The exact date depends on weather and other conditions, but the Air Force said Wednesday it expects the landing to occur in early to mid-June.
 
Air Force's mini space shuttle prepares for landing
 
Justin Ray - SpaceflightNow.com
 
After 15 months circling the planet on its clandestine military mission, the Pentagon's miniature space shuttle will be coming back to Earth for a pinpoint touchdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base in the next couple of weeks. The base, located about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, announced Wednesday that preparations are underway to receive the second reusable spaceplane in the "the early- to mid-June timeframe." The exact landing date and time "will depend on technical and weather considerations," the base said in a statement to reporters.
__________
 
COMPLETE STORIES
 
SpaceX's Private Dragon Capsule Returns to Earth Thursday
 
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
 
After a more than a week in orbit, the private space capsule Dragon is preparing to return to Earth from the International Space Station and cap off its historic mission with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
 
Dragon is due to be released from the station early Thursday and splash down a few hours later. The return to Earth is the last major hurdle for the groundbreaking spacecraft built by Hawthorne, Calif.-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX).
 
The unmanned Dragon space capsule is the first commercial spacecraft ever to visit the International Space Station. It docked at the space station on Friday (May 25), three days after blasting off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
 
So far, the landmark test flight has gone smoothly, with Dragon meeting each of its mission milestones with very little deviation from its flight plan, SpaceX officials said.
 
"The behavior of the vehicle was as expected and that was a big confidence boost," Dragon mission director John Couluris of SpaceX said during a news conference today (May 30).
 
Now Dragon has one last challenge: the trip home.
 
SpaceX's Dragon capsule is rare in its ability to survive re-entry to Earth and be recovered. Most automated cargo vehicles that visit the space station, such as those built by Russia, Japan and Europe, are designed for one-way trips only, and are destroyed after their missions as they plunge through the planet's atmosphere.
 
Dragon is equipped with a heat shield to withstand the fiery temperatures of re-entry, which can reach about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1650 degrees Celsius). That means it can deliver cargo both to and from the space station.
 
"It's still a very challenging phase of flight," Couluris said. "Only a few countries have done this so far, so we're not taking this lightly."
 
Dragon is packed with a total of 1,367 pounds (620 kilograms) worth of cargo for the return trip, including crew items, completed science experiments and used station hardware. SpaceX plans to deliver some high-value experiments back to NASA within 48 hours of splashdown, with the rest of the cargo to be sent to the space agency within two weeks.
 
The mission is a trial run for SpaceX's plan to fly 12 cargo-delivery missions to the orbiting laboratory over the next few years. The company has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA under its Commercial Resupply Services program, which has partnered with private industry to fill the gap left by the retired space shuttles.
 
SpaceX was founded in 2002 by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who also co-founded internet payment service PayPal.
 
NASA's Mission Control in Houston has worked closely with the SpaceX team in Hawthorne throughout the flight to coordinate Dragon's approach and operations at the space station.
 
"We really learned how we worked together as a team and overall that went very well," NASA flight director Holly Ridings said today. "Mostly we learned that to bring in a new partner, the SpaceX team, we were able to communicate and accomplish something very complicated."
 
Dragon is currently berthed at the station's Earth-facing Harmony node. At 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT), astronauts onboard are scheduled to use the station's robotic arm to detach Dragon from the outpost, with a plan to release it from the arm at 5:35 a.m. EDT (0935 GMT).
 
At 10:51 a.m. EDT (1451 GMT), Dragon will fire its engines to exit orbit and begin the fall back to Earth, with a splashdown about 490 nautical miles southwest of Los Angeles targeted for 11:44 a.m. EDT (1544 GMT).
 
Recovery ships will be waiting in the area to collect the capsule and haul it back to land as soon as possible.
 
US cargo vessel prepares to leave space station
 
Kerry Sheridan - Agence France Presse
 
US company SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship is preparing to make its return journey to Earth after a landmark mission to the International Space Station, NASA and SpaceX representatives said Wednesday.
 
The release of the unmanned Dragon is set for 5:35 am Eastern time (0935 GMT) on Thursday, with an intact splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California planned for 1444 GMT, NASA said.
 
"We have a lot ahead of us on the SpaceX side," said mission director John Couluris in a briefing with reporters on the eve of the spacecraft's return after a seven-day mission to the orbiting outpost.
 
"We have done it once," he said, referring to the Dragon's test flight in December 2010 when the capsule entered and returned safely from orbit for the first time.
 
"But it is still a very challenging phase of flight," he added. "We are not taking this lightly at all."
 
The capsule is supposed to make an ocean landing 490 nautical miles (907 kilometers) southwest of Los Angeles, where three vessels are standing by as recovery boats.
 
It will then be transported to Texas so that the cargo it is bringing back can be returned to NASA, though the US space agency cautioned that if anything goes wrong, there is nothing crucial on board.
 
"There is not anything coming home that we couldn't afford to not get back," said Holly Ridings, NASA flight director.
 
Couluris added that regardless of what happens to the capsule on Thursday, the mission has been "a major success" for both NASA and SpaceX.
 
The cargo ship launched on May 22 carrying 521 kilograms (1,148 pounds) of gear for the space lab, including food, supplies, computers, utilities and science experiments. It plans to return a 660-kilogram load to Earth.
 
On May 25, the Dragon became the first privately owned spacecraft to berth with the ISS, an event that NASA and White House officials hailed as the start of a new era in spaceflight in which commercial enterprise will take on a larger role.
 
The United States retired its space shuttle fleet last year, leaving cargo missions up to the space agencies of Russia, Japan and Europe.
 
Only Russia can return its cargo capsules intact. The other supply ships burn up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.
 
Until private US ventures come up with a vehicle that can replace the shuttle and carry humans to the $100 billion orbiting lab, the world's astronauts must rely on Russia's Soyuz capsules at $63 million a ticket.
 
US astronaut Don Pettit, who is part of the six-member crew at the ISS and helped unload and restock the capsule, described the Dragon as "roomier than a Soyuz" and said it boasts about as much space for cargo as his pickup truck.
 
The white Dragon capsule stands 4.4 meters (14.4 feet) high and is 3.66 meters in diameter, and could carry as much as 3,310 kilograms split between pressurized cargo in the capsule and unpressurized cargo in the trunk.
 
It was also built to carry up to seven humans to the ISS. The Soyuz carries three at a time.
 
California-based SpaceX, owned by billionaire Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, says it aims to begin taking people to the space station by 2015.
 
Using some of their own money and some funds from NASA, SpaceX and its competitor Orbital Sciences Corporation will likely become the chief cargo servicers of the space station, which is set to remain operational until 2020, NASA has said.
 
SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to supply the station over the coming years, and Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract to do the same. Orbital's first test flight is scheduled for later this year.
 
SpaceX success boosts NASA's venture with private companies
 
Ledyard King - Gannett News Service
 
Almost from the time he took over NASA in 2009, Charles F. Bolden Jr., has urged a skeptical Congress to replace the space shuttle with a rocket developed by a private company with the space agency's help.
 
On Friday, Bolden earned the right to do a little gloating as California-based SpaceX became the first private firm to navigate a spacecraft to the International Space Station.
 
"Today is, and I'm not overstating this, a day that will go down in history," the former shuttle commander told an enthusiastic audience at the International Space Development Conference.
 
On either side of him, two large projection screens displayed a slightly delayed feed of the unmanned SpaceX Dragon vehicle slowly approaching the space station. When Bolden announced around 10 a.m. that the space station's robotic arm had grabbed the Dragon, the crowd inside the Grand Hyatt Hotel ballroom, which included former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, erupted in cheers.
 
"The debate about our direction is over and we're moving strongly into implementing some very exciting plans," Bolden said. " If you're still wondering if this new era is real, I think the SpaceX success this week should begin to dispel those notions."
 
But congressional debate over the Commercial Crew Program, which teams NASA with private companies to develop a new taxi to the space station, is far from over.
 
Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled House adopted a fiscal 2013 spending bill that would provide $500 million for the program -- more than it's getting this fiscal year but considerably less than the $830 million President Barack Obama asked for.
 
The Democratic-run Senate has yet to finalize its NASA spending bill but a key committee has endorsed $525 million for the program.
 
House lawmakers also have told the space agency to hurry up and pick one company from the four (SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin) vying for the contract to produce a new rocket. Continuing the competition "presents a significant risk of costly, lengthy delays," according to the House-passed language.
 
NASA opposes the idea, saying such a move actually would drive up costs in the long run.
 
In the 10 months since the last shuttle mission ended, the agency has had to answer even larger questions about the direction of the U.S. space program.
 
Some want NASA to focus its relatively modest resources on "bold" ventures, namely a Mars mission now about two decades from reality. Others question whether it makes sense to spend more than $17 billion a year on space travel, given the government's spiraling debt.
 
In the short term, the Dragon spacecraft's successful docking on Friday reinvigorated backers of the Commercial Crew program.
 
"I hope people's doubts have been put to rest," SpaceX CEO and chief designer Elon Musk said at news conference.
 
Other companies also are moving their plans off the drawing boards and into space.
 
Next week, Sierra Nevada plans to begin test flights of the Dream Chaser, a smaller version of the space shuttle that is the firm's answer to SpaceX's Dragon, according to company Vice President Mark Sirangelo.
 
"Right now, real companies are building real hardware," said Paul Damphousse, executive director of the National Space Society. "Not PowerPoint charts. Not animation. Real hardware. It's a really, really cool time to be involved in space and it's only going to get better."
 
Pilot, passenger identified from Monday's plane collision
 
David Pierce - Stafford County Sun (Virginia)
 
Men from Burke, Va. and Bethesda, Md. were killed in Monday's plane collision in Fauquier County.
 
The Medical Examiner's office identified James "Mike" Duncan, 60, of Bethesda, Md. as the pilot and Paul Gardella, Jr., 57, of Burke, Va. as the passenger. Duncan and Gardella both worked for the National Transportation Safety Board.
 
A Broad Run man in the other plane is the lone survivor of the collision.
 
After the collision, which happened about 4 p.m. near Silver Hill Road in the Sumerduck area, the two planes crashed to the ground about a mile apart from each other, said state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. Plane parts and debris were scattered over the two crash sites.
 
One of the planes, a Beech Bonanza, caught fire in the collision. Troopers recovered Duncan and Gardella's bodies from the wreckage.
 
The pilot of the other plane, Thomas R. Proven, 70, survived the crash and was in good condition at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg Tuesday morning. Proven, of Broad Run, was conscious and talked to the troopers first on the scene, Geller said.
 
Geller said Proven, a crash investigator for the FAA, was flying a 1965 Piper PA28140.
 
What caused the mid-air collision remain under investigation.
 
Because NTSB employees were involved, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will investigate the crash. The TSB is holding a 3 p.m. press conference Wednesday in Warrenton.
 
'Shuttlebration Weekend' to welcome space shuttle replica to JSC
 
Michelle Homer - KHOU TV's Great Day Houston
 
A replica of the space shuttle is slowly making its way across the Gulf of Mexico on a journey to the Johnson Space Center.
 
The 123-foot reproduction was loaded on a barge docked at Kennedy Space Center last Thursday for a piggyback ride to Houston.
 
The Explorer will arrive in Galveston Bay on Friday, June 1, kicking off "Shuttlebration Weekend."
 
The Seabrook-Kemah Bridge will be closed for about 30 minutes around noon Friday until the 54-foot high Explorer passes into the Clear Lake Channel.
 
Clear Lake will remain open to boaters Friday, but they must avoid the bridge area when the barge arrives. During the move, boaters may anchor on the north side of the channel at least 500 feet from the channel.
 
The barge will then travel to the Space Center barge dock near the intersection of NASA Parkway and Space Center Boulevard.
 
It is expected to dock next to the Nassau Bay Hilton between 3 and 4 p.m.
 
Space Center Houston will hold a free street party to celebrate the shuttle’s arrival from 2 to 10 p.m. Friday and the public is invited.
 
It will take all day Saturday to lift the replica off the barge and weld it to a transporter.
 
The transporter will then carry the Explorer about a mile to the Space Center during a parade early Sunday. The trip is expected to take about three hours.
 
There will be a free party in the Space Center parking lot when the Explorer arrives.
 
Explorer has been on display at the Kennedy Space Center since 1994. NASA decided to move it to JSC as a consolation prize for not getting a real space shuttle.
 
Magnus among top influential women in Title IX era
 
John Kean - Rolla Daily News (Missouri)
 
Former Missouri S&T women’s soccer player and Miner Athletic Hall of Fame member Sandra Magnus, a member of the crew that went into space on NASA’s final space shuttle mission last summer, was named by the Women’s Sports Foundation among a list of the 40 most influential women in athletics over the last 40 years.
 
The recognition for Magnus comes with the upcoming 40th anniversary of Title IX as part of a “40 for 40” list of women who made a significant impact on society after playing sports at either the high school or collegiate level during the 40 years since Title IX came into effect in 1972.
 
Magnus, who was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 and was the recipient of the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s Charles Bertram Alumni of Distinction Award in 2009, made her third trip into space in July on Atlantis as one of four astronauts making the final shuttle mission into space.  She spent 12 days in space on that mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station as well as to conduct tests such as trying new methods for recycling used water.
 
She was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996 and flew in her first mission in 2002 as part of Atlantis’ STS-112 mission, logging over 10 days in space. In 2008, Magnus took part in Endeavor’s STS-126 mission and spent 133 days in space aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 18. During her 2008-09 mission, Magnus also blogged for Missouri S&T-hosted site called spacebook.mst.edu, where she addressed various issues about life in orbit and also answered questions from grade school children.
 
She has also served for NASA at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., working with the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and was also assigned in 1998 as a “Russian Crusader”, which involved traveling to Russia in support of hardware testing and operational products development.
 
Magnus has been honored by NASA with its Space Flight Medal in 2002 and 2009 as well as with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 2009.
 
While at Missouri S&T, Magnus played in the first four seasons in the history of the women’s soccer program, earning letters each year and helping guide the Lady Miners to a 31-27-2 record during that span. As a defender, she anchored a defensive unit that allowed just over a goal per game during those four years, including just 14 in the 1983 season when the team posted a 10-5 record.
 
In addition to the Hall of Fame and Bertram Award honors, Magnus was also cited by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America with its honorary All-America award in 2008, which is given to an individual who brings particular distinction to soccer through their efforts within and beyond the boundaries of the sport.
 
She has made three major speaking appearances since January, delivering the keynote address to the NCAA Division II general session at the NCAA Convention in January, serving as the commencement speaker at Missouri S&T spring ceremonies earlier this month and speaking at the closing ceremonies last week at the NCAA Division II Spring Sports Festival in Louisville, Ky.
 
Magnus is part of an impressive list of influential women, which includes former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; Val Ackerman, the first president of the Women’s National Basketball Association; entertainers Ellen DeGeneres, Queen Latifah and Tina Fey; Pat Summitt, the recently retired head women’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee; professional athletes Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Venus Williams; and fellow astronaut Sally Ride, the first woman to fly into space.
 
Magnus, who is from Belleville, Ill., graduated from Missouri S&T in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in physics and also received her master’s degree from S&T in electrical engineering in 1990. She would later earn a doctorate from Georgia Tech.
 
Air Force spaceplane aims for June landing in CA
 
Associated Press
 
An unmanned U.S. Air Force spaceplane that has been in orbit for over a year is coming back to Earth.
 
The Pentagon's experimental craft, which resembles a mini space shuttle, is slated to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The exact date depends on weather and other conditions, but the Air Force said Wednesday it expects the landing to occur in early to mid-June.
 
Officially called the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, it blasted off in March 2011 and was the second of its type to be launched.
 
The first made an autonomous landing in 2010 at Vandenberg after a 270-day mission.
 
Measuring 29 feet long with a wing span of 15 feet, the latest X-37B has stayed in orbit longer. Its exact mission is largely a mystery.
 
Air Force's mini space shuttle prepares for landing
 
Justin Ray - SpaceflightNow.com
 
After 15 months circling the planet on its clandestine military mission, the Pentagon's miniature space shuttle will be coming back to Earth for a pinpoint touchdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base in the next couple of weeks.
 
The base, located about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, announced Wednesday that preparations are underway to receive the second reusable spaceplane in the "the early- to mid-June timeframe."
 
The exact landing date and time "will depend on technical and weather considerations," the base said in a statement to reporters.
 
The Orbital Test Vehicle will use Vandenberg's three-mile-long concrete runway once envisioned to support manned space shuttle landings from polar-orbiting military flights.
 
"The men and women of Team Vandenberg are ready to execute safe landing operations anytime and at a moment's notice," said Col. Nina Armagno, 30th Space Wing commander.
 
Operating on a sophisticated autopilot and GPS navigation, the OTV will fire its propulsion system to brake from orbit and plunge through the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean towards the Air Force installation for a tire-smoking touchdown.
 
"Space professionals from the 30th Space Wing will monitor the de-orbit and landing of the Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission, called OTV 2," Vandenberg's statement said.
 
The base said its crews have conducted extensive, periodic training in preparation for landing.
 
Launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral on March 5, 2011, the winged craft has been operating in low-Earth-orbit carrying out a mission of unknown purpose. The military considers the payload classified.
 
Its pickup truck-size payload bay could be filled with experimental equipment being exposed to the harsh environment of space for proof testing or the cargo hold could contain operational instruments for reconnaissance.
 
"Although I can't talk about mission specifics, suffice it to say this mission has been a spectacular success," General William L. Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, said in a recent speech.
 
Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division, the spaceplane is 29 feet long with a wing span of 14 feet. It can weigh up to 11,000 pounds fueled for launch. The in-space design life is 270 days, but good performance on this mission enabled ground controllers to keep it aloft significantly longer.
 
Hobbyist satellite trackers have kept close tabs on the vehicle since its launch, monitoring it in an initial 206-mile (331 km) orbit inclined 42.8 degrees to the equator. Last summer, the orbit was raised slightly to 209 miles (337 km).
 
"It maintained this altitude against the effects of drag through frequent small orbit maneuvers," said Ted Molczan, a respected hobbyist tracker.
 
Earlier this month, however, the craft began lowering its altitude, briefly slipping out of the observers' sight until being discovered in the new orbit of 182 miles (293 km) tilted 41.9 degrees relative to the equator.
 
The new orbit causes its ground track to repeat, almost precisely, every three days; the previous altitude repeated every two days. Molczan said satellites with ground tracks repeating at intervals of two, three or four days have long been favored for U.S. imagery intelligence satellites, potentially offering a clue to the craft's mission.
 
This is the second of the Orbital Test Vehicles to fly in the X-37B program, following the maiden mission in 2010 that spent 224 days in space, frequently maneuvering in what was considered to be a shakedown cruise to demonstrate the spaceplane's capabilities.
 
The original vehicle has been refurbished for shipment to Cape Canaveral and a return to space. Another United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will haul the craft to orbit in a liftoff targeted for October.
 
END
 
 


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