A $2 billion B-2 Spirit stealth bomber can now be seen on Google Earth after a Reddit user shared a photo of the aircraft flying above a farmer’s field in Missouri.
The user, under the name Hippowned, posted the photo from Davis, Missouri, on Monday, which has since gained significant attention on their thread.
The B-2 Spirit stealth bombers had been designed and manufactured by military technology provider Northrop Grumman and first took flight in 1989.
The aircraft is reportedly one of 21 and is based at Whiteman Air Force Base, which is only about 20 miles south of where it was spotted.
Besides the image, the Reddit user also added the stealth bomber’s coordinates which can be viewed on Google Earth at 39 01 18.5N 93 35 40.5W.
The Reddit post has since racked up 109,000 upvotes and garnered 3,000 comments. A short video of YouTuber My Garden Channel zooming in on the stealth bomber has also since been posted.
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A photo of a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber was posted on Reddit on Monday after it was seen flying over a farmer’s field in Davis, Missouri
The stealth bomber can now be seen on Google Earth at 39 01 18.5N 93 35 40.5W
The B-2 Spirit also has quite a history as it has stealthily crossed into enemy lines for various missions.
‘During its legendary combat debut in Operation Allied Force, the stealth bomber flew less than 1 percent of the total missions, yet destroyed 33 percent of the targets in the first eight weeks of the conflict,’ Northop Grumman said.
‘The B-2 also set a record with a 44-hour air combat mission in 2001. Its ability to penetrate enemy territory undetected is why it’s been called to duty in the opening phases of several conflicts including Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Odyssey Dawn and Operation Odyssey Lightning.’
The Air Force is planning on spending about $203 billion on a new B-21 Raider which will have at least 100 models.
‘Designed to operate in tomorrow’s high-end threat environment, the B-21 will play a critical role in ensuring America’s enduring airpower capability,’ the Air Force wrote.
The new bombers are said to cost around $639 million in 2019 dollars, according to Task & Purpose.
However, the B-2 model can currently be enjoyed for online viewing on Google Maps.
The aircraft is 69 feet long and 17 feet tall with a wingspan of 172 foot
It can travel 6,000 nautical miles without refueling and 10,000 nautical miles with only one refueling as well as reach up to 50,000 feet
The application has credited Maxar Technologies for the stellar capture of the aircraft.
‘To make a satellite image, we choose three bands and represent each in tones of red, green or blue,’ NASA said on their website.
‘Because most visible colors can be created by combining red, green and blue light, we then combine the red, green and blue-scale images to get a full-color representation of the world.’
Despite the praise for the post, the Reddit user Hippowned has since given full credit to Scott Wagner after they found the image in a Facebook group.
‘Although Reddit wasn’t the first site for it to appear on, the fact that not a single Redditor out of the 100k that upvoted it, not to mention the countless others that saw it, leads me to think it’s a pretty new discovery. Redditors love to call out reposts you see!,’ they said, according to Newsweek.
Soucre: dailymail.co.uk
