Air Force's Secret Robot Space Plane Blasts Off

Who says America doesn't have a space program anymore? Sure the shuttle's gone, but the military is keeping the dream alive—and classified. The Air Force today launched its top-secret unmanned space shuttle alternative into orbit on a mysterious mission, the AP reports. The vessel, dubbed the X-37B, took off from Cape Canaveral on the back of an Atlas V rocket, and quickly disappeared into the clouds. It's the second flight for this particular spaceship; in its inaugural 2010 mission, it circled the earth for seven months.

A second X-37B spent more than a year in orbit. What the drones are doing up there is the secret part; the public commentary on today's launch cut off 17 minutes into the flight, and a news blackout followed. One scientific observer speculates that the X-37B likely does "all the sorts of things that spy satellites generally do." What makes today's flight noteworthy in his mind is that it's the first time a ship other than the shuttle has managed to make a second trip into space. "That is pretty cool," he says, "reusing your spacecraft after a runway landing." (More Air Force stories.)