spacetoday.net: X-37B slated to return Tuesday

Posted: Mon, Oct 13, 2014, 6:20 AM ET (1020 GMT)
X-37B OTV-2 landing (US Air Force)

A secret military spaceplane that has spent more than 600 days in orbit is finally expected to land as soon as Tuesday. A US Air Force press release Friday said that the X-37B, flying what the service calls Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) mission 3, would land in the near future at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. That landing could come as soon as Tuesday, according to other media reports. The X-37B had been in orbit since a December 2012 launch from Florida on an Atlas 5. The Air Force has not disclosed the mission the X-37B has been performing since its launch. Last week, NASA announced it was leasing two former Space Shuttle hangars at the Kennedy Space Center to the X-37B program, with the spaceport's main runway also potentially serving as a landing site for the vehicle.