Boeing Moving X-37B Operations To the Kennedy Space Center

schwit1 writes "A spy plane used by the U.S. Air Force is about to get a new home: a garage at Kennedy Space Center that once housed NASA orbiters during the space shuttle era. The move was announced Friday by Boeing, the Chicago-based company that built the X-37B orbital test vehicle and is in charge of repairing the spacecraft whenever it returns to Earth. Previously, Boeing had refurbished the 29-foot-long spacecraft at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but the company decided to relocate its fix-up shop in Florida, where the vehicle now launches."

Comments

manned cabin

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

since Boeing showed these 2 years ago, I'm sure the retrofit is ready by now. The Air Force will never give up their backdoor access to space. This picture here is about all I can find...but if they drew out plans like that then the Air Force probably has it built already.

Re:manned cabin

[dreamchaser]

I guess every US gov't department is interesting in backdooring whatever/whomever they can...

Hell, the IRS 'backdoors' me every April.

Re:I wish they wouldn't

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Why can't we just demilitarize NASA. The military already has their own Space Command, so why do they have to fuck with NASA as well?

Why do dogs piss on trees? Or XBL kiddies teabag corpses in Halo?

Because winning just isn't as much fun if you don't mark your territory.

US Lost the space race

[BlazingATrail]

It's sadly ironic that the US only use for NASA facilities and repurposed X-37B is for spying on people and weaponizing space. Some may say bloated NASA needed to be put out of its misery, but surely the government could contribute more to useful science and exploration privately, than more ways to fund military or NSA to control its citizens.

Re:US Lost the space race

[tomhath]

The US is so far ahead of anyone else in space that there is no longer a race being run. What other country could make a soft landing on one of Saturn's moons? How many other countries have rovers exploring Mars? Who else sent a probe out of the Solar System into interstellar space?

Re:US Lost the space race

[TheloniousToady]

Good point. Currently, space exploration is - or should be - more about science than a race.

I have a friend who works as a scientist for NASA, and he has made the point that there is very little "science" to be gleaned from the manned exploration of space, e.g. "the space race". Basically, the unmanned probes and robots can gather data at a much lower cost. Manned exploration like moon landings and space stations may capture the public imagination, and thus lead to funding (even in China), but they just aren't cost-effective from a science point of view. There's no need to run that race anymore.

The idea of sending humans to Mars is a great example. It would be hugely expensive, yet wouldn't yield any data that rovers couldn't provide. (If we really want to find out if humans can survive on Mars, maybe we should just build a simulated Mars dome here on Earth at a fraction of the cost. Heck, maybe we could even resurrect the old "Mission to Mars" ride at Disneyworld.) So, if the Chinese eventually run and win the "race" to land humans on Mars, let them waste their money.

"Space Shuttle Era"?

[Quinn_Inuit]

I know how much was wrong with the shuttle program, but I still get depressed every time I hear it referred to in the past tense.

Re:too many $

[phrostie]

my guess would be they are going for the lower latitudes.
launching from higher latitudes requires more fuel for the same orbit.
so either they are lifting a heavier load or going for a higher orbit.

to move just to save money would be totally out of character for the U.S. Gov.