
The U.S. Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Could Soon Leave Earth for 2 Years - joering2
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-air-forces-x-37b-space-plane-could-soon-leave-earth-2-years-148841
======
ncmncm
That always struck me as extremely weird.

If it's a useful vehicle, tying it up for years at a stretch seems terribly
wasteful. It seems better to use dedicated equipment for the two-year project,
and keep the versatile thing free for things that need versatility.

All I can think of is that nobody has actually discovered anything well-suited
to its strengths, so they keep it in orbit so it doesn't seem to be doing
nothing, and a waste of money.

Clue?

------
rabidham
they're testing some sort of exotic propulsion system for ion thrusters

