USAF Secret Robot Space Plane Returns To Earth

Completing its third voyage into space, the X-37B is a known space plane with a secret purpose. This is its third long trip into space, it will have been 22 months since it left in December 2012. The U.S. Air Force’s fact sheet lists the official purpose of the craft as “reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.” Speculation abounds that there’s an intelligence purpose to the missions, but the secrecy around the program means whatever the X-37B does besides test orbital re-entry will remain secret for some time.

http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/secret-robot-space-plane-returns-earth-today

Built by Boeing's secretive Phantom Works in Huntington Beach, Calif., the Air Force X-37B spacecraft is rumored to be everything from a space bomber to a satellite-killer or a test-bed for advanced spy satellite sensors. But as the news media fails to contain their excitement at the opportunity to wildly speculate, the experts have debunked the rumors repeatedly, over the years.

"To the extent that it does have a purpose, I think its purpose is to keep the Chinese guessing as to what the purpose is," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a leading source of defense, space and intelligence information. "Over time, most of the money got spent just to keep the program going."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2012/121209-x-37-otv.htm