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Military Spacecraft Comes Home With A Boom

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CAPE CANAVERAL (CBSMiami/AP) — After nearly two years in space, a U.S. military spacecraft came home with a boom over the weekend at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

The unmanned X37B, which was launched in May 2015, landed Sunday morning.

The 29-foot-long spacecraft, which spent 719 days in orbit, caused a sonic boom on its return that rattled central Florida and could be heard as far away as Tampa and Fort Myers.

It's the spacecraft's first landing in Florida. Previous X37B missions have landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

In a statement, officials said the X37B spacecraft is "an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force." Another mission is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral later this year.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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