That is the sound of the United States Air Force’s unmanned spacecraft landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida over the weekend. The United States Department of Defense posted a video of the landing on YouTube. The Air Force’s X-37B spacecraft passed over the state of Florida early in the morning Sunday. It made a different sound then. It created a “sonic boom.” That is the noise caused by something traveling faster than the speed of sound or 1,225 kilometers per hour. The sonic boom served as a surprising alarm clock for some Floridians. They took to Twitter to express their shock and describe the loud noise. One person said she thought someone had crashed into her garage. The X-37B was first used in 2010. Each time it goes on a mission, it stays in space and orbits the Earth many times. In its first mission, it stayed in space for about six months. Its second mission was close to a year, and its third mission was close to two years. On Sunday, the plane ended its fourth mission about two weeks short of two years. So, what does the plane do when it is in space? No one really knows. It is classified. That means only certain military members are permitted to know about its mission.
Title: Secret Space Plane Lands After Two Years in Orbit
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/secret_space_plane.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Secret Space Plane Lands After Two Years in Orbit' data-article-id='2374'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='23125'>That is the sound of the United States Air Force’s unmanned spacecraft landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida over the weekend.</span> <span data-start-time='23125' data-end-time='31854'>The United States Department of Defense posted a video of the landing on YouTube.</span> <span data-start-time='31854' data-end-time='42188'>The Air Force’s X-37B spacecraft passed over the state of Florida early in the morning Sunday.</span> <span data-start-time='42188' data-end-time='46000'>It made a different sound then.</span> <span data-start-time='46000' data-end-time='49396'>It created a “sonic boom.”</span> <span data-start-time='49396' data-end-time='63292'>That is the noise caused by something traveling faster than the speed of sound or 1,225 kilometers per hour.</span> <span data-start-time='63292' data-end-time='70854'>The sonic boom served as a surprising alarm clock for some Floridians.</span> <span data-start-time='70854' data-end-time='80125'>They took to Twitter to express their shock and describe the loud noise.</span> <span data-start-time='80125' data-end-time='86979'>One person said she thought someone had crashed into her garage.</span> <span data-start-time='86979' data-end-time='94125'>The X-37B was first used in 2010.</span> <span data-start-time='94125' data-end-time='103146'>Each time it goes on a mission, it stays in space and orbits the Earth many times.</span> <span data-start-time='103146' data-end-time='109979'>In its first mission, it stayed in space for about six months.</span> <span data-start-time='109979' data-end-time='119333'>Its second mission was close to a year, and its third mission was close to two years.</span> <span data-start-time='119333' data-end-time='128396'>On Sunday, the plane ended its fourth mission about two weeks short of two years.</span> <span data-start-time='128396' data-end-time='135021'>So, what does the plane do when it is in space?</span> <span data-start-time='135021' data-end-time='137604'>No one really knows.</span> <span data-start-time='137604' data-end-time='140167'>It is classified.</span> <span data-start-time='140167' data-end-time='147604'>That means only certain military members are permitted to know about its mission.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/secret_space_plane.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=8627 data-hint-location='94125' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/what_does_orbit_mean.m4a'>What does orbit mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='curved path'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/curved_path.m4a'><span>curved path</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/pass_over_head.m4a'><span>pass over head</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/know_a_mission.m4a'><span>know a mission</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/travel_fast.m4a'><span>travel fast</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=8628 data-hint-location='135021' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/what_does_the_plane_do.m4a'>What does the plane do?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='no one knows'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/crash_land.m4a'><span>crash land</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/run_experiments.m4a'><span>run experiments</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/no_one_knows.m4a'><span>no one knows</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/test_the_atmosphere.m4a'><span>test the atmosphere</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=8629 data-hint-location='63292' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/the_sonic_boom_served_as_a__blank__alarm_clock.m4a'>The sonic boom served as a <span class='blank'>surprising</span> alarm clock.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='surprising'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/expected.m4a'><span>expected</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/loud.m4a'><span>loud</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/surprising.m4a'><span>surprising</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1857/welcome.m4a'><span>welcome</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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