U.S. Space Force honors coronavirus victims and fighters

The United States Air Force and Space Force have paid tribute to the sick and dead from the pandemic and to all those on the front lines of fighting the ravages of the coronavirus. 

This is reflected in the dedication inscribed on the upper part of the external structure of the Atlas V launcher, which has placed in space the mini military shuttle X-37B, the mysterious and secret mission that has taken off this Sunday morning, May 17, from Cape Canaveral.

The launch was scheduled for Saturday morning, but was delayed 24 hours due to the rain and wind gusts that hit the Miami area, in the state of Florida.

The registration was unveiled a few hours before take-off, as a tribute to all those affected by and fighting against COVID-19, which has already infected more than 4.5 million people worldwide and in the United States affects nearly 1.5 million people and has caused nearly 89,000 deaths.

On behalf of the military and civilian personnel of the Space Force, Lieutenant General John 'Jay' Raymond, expressed his greetings "to every American who is on the front lines of our fight against COVID-19," and dedicated the space mission to those who are a testament to "American resolve and national unity in these difficult times.

Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett has dedicated the mission to the nation's health care workers and essential personnel and encouraged them to "overcome adversity in a strong America".
 

The launch that has just taken place is the sixth flight of the X-37B space plane, officially named OTV-6. The U.S. Air Force has a pair of reusable X-37Bs, which alternate in their flights into space. They stay there for one or two years, testing equipment and material to verify the degradation they suffer from cosmic rays and other radiation in the cosmos. 

Built by Boeing, when each X-37B returns to earth on its own, military technicians, engineers and scientists evaluate the material exposed to the conditions in space, to use or rule out its use in satellites, launchers or weapons systems.

The robotic spacecraft is a miniature version of NASA's space shuttles. On this sixth flight it will test a technology developed by the Naval Research Laboratory to transform solar radiation into radio frequency microwave energy and verify whether it can be projected onto the Earth. It will also deploy in space a small satellite called FalconSat-8, built by U.S. Air Force Academy cadets. 

The first mission of the X-37B (OTV-1) remained in orbit from April 22, 2010, until December 3, with a total of 224 days in orbit. The fifth and previous mission (OTV-5) to which it is now in space dates from September 7, 2017. It landed on October 27, 2019, and was in orbit for 779 days. It is very possible that the one that has just taken off will surpass the existing record.