I've been to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and have seen most of the B-2's in existence. Each has its own separate hanger. Air show a couple years ago, several of them were doing touch and go landings. Once, at a Kansas City air show I looked up to see a B-2 pass right over my head, no more than 500 feet off the ground. Never heard a sound until it was right above me. No wonder they call them "Spooky". Still can't figure out how anything that strange looking stays in the air.

But can it hit something on Mars?

Before the B-2 was built the old Ho-IX German stealth fighter from WW2 was re-examined in every detail. Although Northrop has a history with flying wings, the B-2 is more akin to the German Horten designs V, VII, and IX. The Ho-IX (to be produced at Gotha as the Go-229) first flew under jet power in Feb 1945. It was the world's first dedicated stealth fighter with a charcoal and sawdust blend in a resin matrix contained in a largely wooden airframe. The wing leading engines and jet intakes were to be covered in radar-absorbing paint that originated with the Kriegsmarine for their subs and future versions of the Fl-282 helicopter. And the Go-229 would also have dielectric materials covering it much like the B-2's RAM. Tested at Gottingen, it was invisible to the radars of the time. The postwar Northrop YB-35 and 49 flying wing bombers were failures due to mechanical flaws and poor performance. The B-2 succeeds due to a digital FBW system with sextaplex redundancy and has split surfaces on the outer wing panels to act as drag rudders. These provide aerodynamic braking and yaw control. The blended-body fuselage helps too. And if you think the B-2 is something to behold take a look at the Ho-XIII and Parabola from 1945: http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Horten_Nurflugels/ho_xiii/ho_xiii_a_in_flight.jpg http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/pictureso/me10.jpg