US Military's Secretive Spaceplane Launched on Possible Higher-Orbit Mission
Voice of America
FILE - The U.S. Airforce's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 after landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 7, 2017. (US Air Force/Handout via Reuters)
The U.S. military's secretive X-37B robot spaceplane blasted off from Florida on Thursday night on its seventh mission, the first launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket capable of delivering it to a higher orbit than previous missions.
A motorist drives past the CHS oil refinery Sept. 28, 2024, in McPherson, Kan. Pumpjacks operate in a milo field, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, near Hays, Kan.
FILE - Tuvalu, shown in this undated photo, is among Pacific atoll islands threatened with rising sea levels, according to a World Bank study released on Nov. 14, 2024. (Rising Nations Initiative via AP)
FILE - A pumpjack operates at dawn in a pasture, Sept. 30, 2024, near Hays, Kan.
Divers from National Geographic Pristine Seas measure the world’s largest coral colony in the Solomon Islands.
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy and her book "Orbital" after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Nov. 12, 2024.
Ninawa Inu Pereira Nunes, President of the Federation of the Huni Kuin indigenous people in Brazil's state of Acre, gives an interview during the United Nations climate change conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan November 13, 2024.
FILE - This colorized electron microscope image released by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on March 26, 2024, shows avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles (yellow), grown in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney epithelial cells (blue).
FILE - Lou Donaldson performs with Pat Bianchi on the organ at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I., on Aug. 2, 2015. Donaldson died Nov. 9, 2024, at age 98.
Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan president, and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, pose for a group photo at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
A drone view shows the ancient geoglyph of 'El Gigante de Tarapaca' placed on 'Unita' hill close to 'Huara' town area, in Atacama desert, Iquique, Chile, Oct. 28, 2024. A man walks on ‘Cerro Dragon' nature sanctuary dune while practicing sandboard with Iquique city in the background, at Atacama desert, Iquique, Chile, Oct. 29, 2024.
A 249-centimeter TCL QM-8 Q-Class Mini-LED QLED 4K HDR Smart TV is displayed at the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular event, in New York, Oct. 30, 2024. A 249-centimeter Samsung television, left, sits by others of various sizes on display at a Best Buy store in Dallas, Oct. 25, 2024.