"This first-of-its-kind X-37B maneuver is an incredibly
important milestone. "
The US Space Force announced on Thursday that after
more than nine months of flying in an unusual, high-
ly
elongated orbit, the US military X-37B space plane will soon
begin lowering its wings into the Earth's atmosphere to lower
altitude, and then return to Earth to land on the run-
way.
The air braking maneuvers will use a series of passes
through the uppermost limits of the atmosphere to
gradually reduce the speed with aerodynamic drag and at
the same time consume a minimum amount of fuel. In
orbital mechanics, this decrease in velocity will bring the
apogee, or highest point, of the X-37Borbit closer to
Earth.