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After Almost Two Years, The Air Force's Mysterious X-37B Space Plane Lands (space.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Space.com:
The record-shattering mission of the U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane is finally over. After circling Earth for an unprecedented 718 days, the X-37B touched down Sunday at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida -- the first landing at the SLF since the final space shuttle mission came back to Earth in July 2011... The just-ended mission, known as OTV-4 (Orbital Test Vehicle-4), was the fourth for the X-37B program... The 29-foot-long (8.8 meters) X-37B looks like NASA's now-retired space shuttle orbiter, only much smaller; indeed, two X-37Bs could fit inside a space shuttle's cavernous payload bay...
Most of the X-37B's payloads and activities are classified, leading to some speculation that the space plane could be a weapon of some sort, perhaps a disabler of enemy satellites... But Air Force officials have always strongly refuted that notion, stressing that the vehicle is simply testing technologies on orbit. "Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control; thermal-protection systems; avionics; high-temperature structures and seals; conformal, reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems; and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing," Captain AnnMarie Annicelli, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Space.com via email in March.
Most of the X-37B's payloads and activities are classified, leading to some speculation that the space plane could be a weapon of some sort, perhaps a disabler of enemy satellites... But Air Force officials have always strongly refuted that notion, stressing that the vehicle is simply testing technologies on orbit. "Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control; thermal-protection systems; avionics; high-temperature structures and seals; conformal, reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems; and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing," Captain AnnMarie Annicelli, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Space.com via email in March.
Trump's a dolt. His voters are fucking fruitcakes and uneducated hillbillies.
The Air Force rebutted arguments it was a weapon. It did not refute them. The latter requires evidence, the former is mere PR.
"the vehicle is simply testing technologies on orbit" -- why is it so secret, then?
Have gnu, will travel.
As such, it is not surprising to see space.com claim that X-37B is a weapon, while also claiming that the chinese space station that is ran by the CPLA, is for peaceful uses.
I've observed this satellite, OTV4, in orbit several times over the last couple years; it being large and reflective enough to be easily seen by the unaided eye. I figured the day would come when it would be brought in but since it was a secret project the landing date was anyone's guess. Glad it was a happy landing.
That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
Isn't "drone" the word we use for "unmanned plane?" "Classified X-37B orbital drone" sounds to me like a better description for this machine.
"Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control; thermal-protection systems; avionics; high-temperature structures and seals; conformal, reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems; and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing," [...]
Coming to a Walmart near you!
I guess they don't count the SpaceX booster returns
Remote tracking from earth, or advanced software that lets someone on the ground say "shoot that", and who can prove it wasn't random space junk that took out that satellite.
Oh shit, if you don't hear from me tomorrow start a gofundme to get me a lawyer.
I think it's primary mission is as a roving spy satellite platform which can change orbit. Maybe even as a platform for the deployment and possibly retrieval of micro satellites. Lets say you want to observe an area that you think is active only when typical satellites are not overhead. You could launch a micro sat with stealth tech to do short term undetectable observation. This is highly likely I believe. Less probable but maybe even more useful would near silent reusable small sats that could sync back up and refuel as well transfer it's data.
Another future use (after they perfect the former) would be as a platform to launch interceptor drones that could sync up and to other satellites so as to be ready to disable the satellite on command either though temporary jamming (likely) or permanently from small EMP/Xray like devices which would be preferable to blowing the satellites up. Prime targets would be all the global positioning satellites going up from Russia and China as well as of course foreign and commercial spy satellites. This one is more of a theoretical.
What is with the decontamination suits they're wearing? Why are they necessary?
Can somebody explain to me what the need is for the elaborate suits the ground crew is wearing? They look like full on Biohazzard suits.
"It wasn't carrying any weapons this time."
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The plane is simply using the Air Force's new warp technology to check out some neighboring solar systems for conquering ... ummm, I meant colonization.
I used to work in front of molten iron all day before they closed the foundry down. We didn't need suits to breath yet the iron was at 2300F. You obviously couldn't get super close to it, but the square-cube law kept us in relative comfort.