CNN's Amanda Jackson reports:
The Air Force's unmanned aircraft, X-37B, landed successfully Sunday morning at NASA's Kennedy Space Center -- but it didn't come down quietly.
The space plane sent a sonic boom that rattled east-central Florida before 8 a.m., waking residents from their weekend slumber.
[...] The X-37B, which looks like a small plane, made history by landing for the first time in Florida instead of California. It also set the on-orbit endurance record at 718 days, or almost two years.
Speculation on it's role or mission includes: "whether the U.S. has deployed a space-trotting spy vehicle or weapons platform for taking down satellites." http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413046,00.asp
Additional coverage:
* "Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Lands in Florida After Record-Breaking Secret Mission" http://www.space.com/36420-x-37b-space-plane-secret-mission-florida-landing.html
Background:
* Secret Missions of the X-37B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7qgZKh5X0U
* US Air Force's Secretive X-37B Space Plane (Infographic) http://www.space.com/75-x-37b-spaceplane.html
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-37
* Shenlong Space Plane: China's Answer To U.S. X-37B Drone? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/10/shenlong-space-plane-china_n_2110084.html
* X-37B Likely Spying on China's Space Station https://www.defensetech.org/2012/01/06/x-37b-likely-spying-on-chinas-space-station/
(Score: 1) by a-zA-Z0-9$_.+!*'(),- on Monday May 08 2017, @05:05AM (2 children)
I take it you live in Florida?
https://newrepublic.com/article/114112/anonymouth-linguistic-tool-might-have-helped-jk-rowling
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday May 08 2017, @05:59PM (1 child)
If he does, then I have no sympathy. That's what you get for living in Florida. That state is full of crazy. Sonic booms in the middle of the night are the least of your problems if you live in Florida.
(Score: 1) by a-zA-Z0-9$_.+!*'(),- on Monday May 08 2017, @07:03PM
Definitely.
http://coed.com/2016/06/15/alligator-eats-child-baby-disney-world-orlando-florida-story-info-facts/ [coed.com]
https://newrepublic.com/article/114112/anonymouth-linguistic-tool-might-have-helped-jk-rowling