A Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch the robotic vehicle at 8:14 p.m. EST on Sunday (Dec. 10).

Falcon Heavy 로켓은 오후 8시 14분에 로봇 차량을 발사할 예정입니다. 일요일(12월 10일) EST.

The U.S. Space Force's mysterious X-37B space plane is just about ready to take flight for the seventh time.

The Space Force and SpaceX "are making final preparations" for the planned Sunday evening (Dec. 10) launch of the robotic X-37B, Space Force officials said in an emailed update today (Dec. 7).

우주군과 SpaceX는 일요일 저녁(12월 10일) 예정된 로봇 X-37B 발사를 위해 "최종 준비를 하고 있다"고 오늘(12월 7일) 이메일 업데이트를 통해 우주군 관계자가 밝혔습니다.

The space plane is scheduled to lift off atop a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a 10-minute window that opens at 8:14 p.m. EST (0114 GMT on Dec. 11). If SpaceX webcasts the launch as expected, you'll be able to watch the action live here at Space.com.

The Space Force is believed to possess two X-37B vehicles, both of which were built by Boeing. The space planes look a lot like NASA's old space shuttle orbiters, but they're much smaller; both X-37Bs could fit inside the payload bay of a single space shuttle.

The two X-37Bs have flown a total of six missions to date, each one longer and more ambitious than the last. The most recent one, known as OTV-6 (Orbital Test Vehicle-6), touched down in November 2022 after circling Earth for 908 days.

두 대의 X-37B는 현재까지 총 6개의 임무를 수행했으며 각 임무는 이전보다 더 길고 야심적이었습니다. OTV-6(궤도 시험 차량-6)으로 알려진 가장 최근의 우주선은 908일 동안 지구를 한 바퀴 돌고 2022년 11월에 착륙했습니다.

It's unclear how long the coming flight, OTV-7, will last; the Space Force releases few details about X-37B missions, as most of their payloads are classified. Some of this gear is likely to be novel reconnaissance instruments; military officials have long said that the X-37B is used primarily as a testbed for new technologies.

But the X-37B carries up some civilian research cargo as well. For example, one of the unclassified experiments going up on OTV-7 is Seeds-2, a NASA project that will test how seeds are affected by long-term exposure to space radiation.

그러나 X-37B는 일부 민간 연구 화물도 운반합니다. 예를 들어 OTV-7에서 진행되는 분류되지 않은 실험 중 하나는 씨앗이 우주 방사선에 장기간 노출되면 어떻게 영향을 받는지 테스트하는 NASA 프로젝트인 Seeds-2입니다.

The first five X-37B missions launched atop United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets, and the most recent one flew aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. OTV-7 will be the first to use the powerful Falcon Heavy.

The Heavy has eight missions under its belt to date. It last launched in October, sending NASA's Psyche spacecraft toward the bizarre metal asteroid of the same name.

헤비는 현재까지 8개의 임무를 수행하고 있습니다. 지난 10월에 발사되어 NASA의 프시케 우주선을 같은 이름의 기괴한 금속 소행성을 향해 보냈습니다.