Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Drone Touches Down in California

"Unmanned space plane returns

LOS ANGELES - An unmanned Air Force space plane steered itself to a landing early Saturday at a California military base, capping a 15-month clandestine mission. The spacecraft, which was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in March 2011, conducted in-orbit experiments during the mission, officials said. It was the second such autonomous landing at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. In 2010, an identical unmanned spacecraft returned to Earth after seven months and 91 million miles in orbit."