spacetoday.net: X-37B to launch on next mission

X-37B to launch on next mission

Posted: Sun, May 10, 2020, 12:57 PM ET (1657 GMT)
X-37B before OTV-6 mission (Boeing)

The next X-37B spaceplane mission will carry experiments for both NASA and the Defense Department. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said in a webinar Wednesday that the OTV-6 mission, scheduled for launch May 16 on an Atlas 5, will carry more experiments than any previous flight of the robotic spaceplane. The X-37B will include a service module attached to the back of the vehicle to host additional experiments. Among the experiments the Pentagon has disclosed for the mission are NASA payloads to study the effects of space radiation on materials and one by the Naval Research Lab to convert solar power into microwave energy that is beamed down to Earth.