The mysterious "space plane" X37B of the United States, spotted in orbit by a skywatcher – before disappearing from sight

A SKYWATCHER had a rare glimpse of a secret space plane belonging to the US Air Force.

The mysterious X-37B carries out intelligence operations in Earth orbit and was filmed by an astro-photographer in the Netherlands.

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Ralf Vandebergh, a aeronautical journalist and an amateur photographer of space, told LiveScience that he was looking for the robotic robot for months.

And in May, he finally managed to find him – but could not take pictures. Then, frustrating, he disappeared.

"When I tried to observe him again in mid-June, he did not respect the expected time and trajectory," Ralf explained.

"It turned out to be on another orbit."

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However, he was finally able to take pictures: "Thanks to the network of amateur satellite watchers, he was quickly found in orbit and I was able to take pictures on June 30 and July 2."

The X-37B military space plane started as a NASA project in 1999, but was transferred to the US Department of Defense just five years later.

It operates in a low Earth orbit, but the nature of its missions remains a secret.

In 2012, it was assumed that the United States used it to spy on the module of the Chinese space station Tiangong-1.

But this was later denied by the US Air Force, claiming that the respective orbits of the two guns did not allow for a convenient overflight of surveillance.

It was also said that the United States used the space plane to test spy sensors and study how they behaved against radiation and other space hazards.

And despite the advanced technology on board, the plane is tiny – and therefore difficult to photograph.

"It's really a small object, even at only 300 kilometers above sea level," Ralf said.

"So do not expect the level of detail of the ground footage of the real space shuttle."

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However, the design details allowed Ralf to identify the craft.

"We can recognize a little nose, payload bay and tail of this mini-shuttle, with even a sign of lesser detail," he said.

The elusive ship has already completed five missions: the most recent is USA-277, starting in September 2017.

It has a wingspan of 14 feet 11 inches and a height of 9 feet 6 inches, boasting a maximum take-off weight of 11,000lb.

It gravitates around the Earth in a low orbit at 17,426 km / h and takes about 270 days to circle the Earth.

And there is not a single crew member on board: the craft is fully robotic and relies on computer systems for navigation and operations.

We expect that a sixth X-37B mission will begin later this year, although we do not know when.

In other news of space mysteries, scientists have recently determined that a strange space object called Oumuamua was probably not an extraterrestrial probe.

An Apollo astronaut admitted that he almost died "trying to jump high" on the Moon in 1972.

And, there may have been a breakthrough in the quest for extraterrestrial life while scientists have located the exact location of a mysterious burst of fast radio that "could be an ET signal" .

Are you tempted to become an amateur astrophotographer now? Let us know in the comments!

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