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X-37B Space Plane Marks One Year In Space

Posted by Unknown on from the retrofitted-with-lasers dept.

S810 writes with an excerpt from an article on the X-37B in at Discovery News: "The military won't say what it has been doing with its experimental miniature space shuttle, but the pilotless spaceship, known as the X-37B, has been in orbit for a year now. The 29-foot robotic spacecraft, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, was launched on March 5, 2011, on a follow-up flight to extend capabilities demonstrated by a sister ship during a 244-day debut mission in 2010. 'We are very pleased with the results of ongoing X-37B experiments,' Tom McIntyre, with the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office..."

15 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. It's harmless. Watch TV. by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You guys are paranoid. Without a tracking mirror they could never even aim a laser from space, much less use it to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists and start World War III.

    Hey, did you guys hear that a new season of "The Real Housewives of Miami" started last week? We should all watch it and talk about that. How about that Adriana, huh?

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:It's harmless. Watch TV. by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Funny

      You should know, he's from the US Department of Defense, Social Disinformation Division. It's how the government misdirects you from important things like the fact that they have an on demand weapons deployment system still in orbit. An ICBM that they can launch any time, and drop anywhere within 90 minutes, with no possibility of traditional launch detection.

          They start planting little seeds of doubt here and there, so you'll begin to accept the fact that everything our government does is perfectly harmless ... and ... hey, check out Adriana. What channel was that? Do I have time to run to McDonalds to get a extramegasupersize BigMac meal with a double side of carcinogens? Oh, I don't subscribe to that channel? Sign me up! Extra FCC fees? No problem.. I need my Adriana..

          Wait.. what? ... oh shit, they're in my mind ... Vote Republican ... Happily pay the tax man ... Live the American dream of taxation with no representation.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    2. Re:It's harmless. Watch TV. by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Interesting

          Well, if it has the same speed of a shuttle, a full orbit is 90 minutes.

          27 minutes from launch to impact depends on being able to detect the launch. With no launch detection, because it's just dropped, means they have to hope to pick up a 2m x 1m deorbiting.

          Look for "hypervelocity rod bundles", and "Project Thor". This appears to be the initial implementation of that project.

          Officially, we've agreed to not weaponize space. I'd be willing to be they'd say "It's not space, it's a high altitude aircraft."

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    3. Re:It's harmless. Watch TV. by geekoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If launch detection n is a concern, we have better stealth capabilities. We have a plan that can deploy bombs at supersonic speeds, and stealth. Not that it matter. What happen after it detonates? every country will know, and there would be serious issues.
      so, again, putting weapons in space is stupid. You can't maintain it, you don't have complete control over it, and if it deorbits you have a political and military nightmare.
      Plus it's not large enough to hit all the enemies launch capabilities. SO they will still retaliate.

      A don't even pretend to lecture me on Project Thor. which, by the way, would be 6.1 meters long, not 2 meters.
      And a 2 meters, even if it was lead, would be about 225Kg worth of energy. And you would only have a few of them. Awfully expensive.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    4. Re:It's harmless. Watch TV. by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Interesting

      27 minutes from launch to impact depends on being able to detect the launch.

      Actually it turns out that it takes an ICBM 27 minutes from launch to impact regardless of whether anyone detects the launch! Amazing, I know.

      This appears to be the initial implementation of that project.

      Uh, no it doesn't. This would be a terrible way to get large masses into orbit.

      If you're going to be paranoid -- an endeavor I fully support -- then at least do it right. You should be looking at any of the many shuttle and other heavy-lift rocket launches carrying spy satellites from the last 40 years, any of which could have been carrying a payload of tungsten rods.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    5. Re:It's harmless. Watch TV. by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Insightful

          Simple answer for your complex question. "X-37C or X-37D".

          It wouldn't necessarily *have* to be a kinetic weapon, that was just an example. How about a titanium cased nuclear warhead? What about, the contents of a XM1028 would make a pretty nasty impression on a populated area. Titanium rain, falling at Mach 10 doesn't sound like somewhere I'd want to be standing.

          Not all strategic strikes are made to level an entire country. Sometimes you just need to put a meteorite through the bedroom of a world leader.

          Snipers can be captured, and interrogated. A piece of rebar in the destroyed floor of a room is just another piece of rebar.

          Remember, humans are really great at one thing, finding new ways to kill each other. I have no reason to believe the agency who owns the biggest weapon in the world would be doing something secretively for a humanitarian mission. That kind of conflicts with their job description.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    6. Re:It's harmless. Watch TV. by negRo_slim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A piece of rebar in the destroyed floor of a room is just another piece of rebar.

      I'm sure a piece of metal dropped from orbit would have some identifying characteristics due to the forces that would act upon it during transit and impact.

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    7. Re:It's harmless. Watch TV. by hlavac · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Just drop"? One does not simply drop things from orbit... they keep orbiting. You need a big delta V, which means turning on engines, which means detected... probably harder to drop stuff from orbit than just lob it from surface!

  2. I look forward to reding the details by geekoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    on wkileaks~

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  3. Didn't you know... by Provos · · Score: 3, Funny

    They're defending us from Space Nazis

    --
    I toggled a toggle and buttoned a button, but when I got done, I was done doin' nothin'.
  4. No target yet by Animats · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Perhaps whatever it is designed to target doesn't need to be targeted just yet.

    "In your face from outer space" - motto of the USAF Space Warfare Center

  5. Re:Control Codes by medcalf · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's up, up, right, right, left, right, left, right, button 1

    --
    -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
  6. Is it just me? by s.petry · · Score: 4, Funny

    I keep reading "Orbital Test Vehicle" as Orbital Testicle

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  7. Re:Questions by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 5, Informative

    1. No idea, payload bay is 2.1 × 1.2 m and its launch weight is 5000 kg
    2. Hundreds of millions to billions - "Details on the funding level remain within the Air Force's classified budget request"
    3. Launch vehicle is an Atlas V (~$13,000 per kg to LEO - $65 million per launch)
    4. Yes, supposedly, OTV-1 came back, has not launched again yet, OTV-2 is still up there

    http://www.space.com/8239-details-secretive-37b-space-plane-revealed.html

  8. Obvious by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 3, Funny

    Free parking. Little risk of theft. Makes people wonder what you're up to. Winner all around.

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.