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After a Year In Orbit, US Air Force's X37-B Will Conclude Its Secret Mission

Posted by timothy on from the and-boy-is-it-tired dept.

SomePgmr writes "The U.S Air Force's highly secret unmanned space plane will land in June — ending a year-long mission in orbit. The experimental Boeing X37-B has been circling Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and was due to land in California in December. It is now expected to land in mid to late June. And still, no one knows what the space drone has been doing up there all this time."

22 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Given that this is slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...I'm guessing most here will believe that its mission was one of unmitigated evil.

    It's probably designed to shred the Constitution — from space!

    1. Re:Given that this is slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Missiles will be fired from it on copyright violators. Hail our Hollywood overlords.

    2. Re:Given that this is slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's not the American way. Why do something cheaper (even if perfectly well) when you can do something more expensive, from space?

    3. Re:Given that this is slashdot... by couchslug · · Score: 4, Funny

      "...I'm guessing most here will believe that its mission was one of unmitigated evil."

      Damn political polarisation!

      I favor Centrist, Mitigated Evil where all Americans can share the benefits.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    4. Re:Given that this is slashdot... by mikael · · Score: 4, Funny

      But in a liberal libertarian society everyone gets their fair share of evilness plus the opportunity to contribute as much evil as back as they like. In such an environment, shared projects such as OpenEvil are free to flourish and take over the universe.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    5. Re:Given that this is slashdot... by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

      I won't lie -- I'm a fan of Commuevilism, where the means of evil production are owned by the people. From each according to their villainy, to each according to their vulnerability.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  2. 2000km high club? by blahbooboo · · Score: 1, Funny

    If this secret spy drone is rocking, don't come a knocking...

    Or maybe the 2000km high club

  3. 'NO ONE KNOWS" ???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not even the people who launched it?

    1. Re:'NO ONE KNOWS" ???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Welcome to the world of military intelligence...

  4. Occam's Razor by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Funny

    Considering the huge number of satellites and space debris, I'm going to say that it was just stuck in traffic all year. Space rush hour really sucks!

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    1. Re:Occam's Razor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      The only solution is to build a bypass, I hear the Vogons do really good rates these days.

  5. Re:I would guess... by Gravitron+5000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Skynet knows.

  6. Fast by Lord+Lode · · Score: 2, Funny

    17,000 miles per hour, I guess that's something like 30,000 km/h? That seems pretty fast to me. How much fuel did that consume, and how did they provide it with fuel for a whole year?

    1. Re:Fast by cnettel · · Score: 4, Funny

      In other news, Aristotle is suing you for infringing his intellectural property rights on fictional physics. Maintaining speed relative to another object does not, generally, require any continuous supply of additional energy. Free fall elliptical orbits are one example.

    2. Re:Fast by Lord+Lode · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, looks like I missed the "SPACE plane" part in the article description. I was thinking about flying through air.

    3. Re:Fast by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

      17,000 miles per hour, I guess that's something like 30,000 km/h? That seems pretty fast to me. How much fuel did that consume, and how did they provide it with fuel for a whole year?

      Travelling through orbital space ain't like dusting crops, boy! It doesn't take any fuel at all. Look at the Moon, for example. It's been in orbit an awfully long time, but how long has it been since it was fuelled up?

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  7. Re:I just love journalists... by robot256 · · Score: 1, Funny

    They were only wearing a biohazard suit because the sponsoring congresscritter was on hand for the occasion.

  8. No one knows what it's been doing all this time... by Tyrannicsupremacy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not even the air force, or DARPA, or the NSA.

    Government Spokesperson:
    "It just kinda launched itself and seemed to be having a good time up there so we let it be."

    --
    http://i.cubeupload.com/T6cyLu.png
  9. Secretly sponsored by the airline industry... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Setting a new government verified standard for "on-time" arrivals. After this benchmark; was due to land in California in December. It is now expected to land in mid to late June -- how can anyone complain about being a few hours late!

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
    1. Re:Secretly sponsored by the airline industry... by JTsyo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Its mission of evil must have been harder than they thought. hmm sort of like it is explained in your quote.

  10. Re:No one knows what it's been doing all this time by Shivetya · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do not taunt happy fun shuttle.

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
  11. Re:Secret? by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 3, Funny

    JP-7 is made of people!