X-37B Unmanned Shuttle

Post Reply
Tsukiyumi
4 Star Admiral
4 Star Admiral
Posts: 21747
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:38 pm
Location: Forward Torpedo Tube Twenty. Help!
Contact:

X-37B Unmanned Shuttle

Post by Tsukiyumi »

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - An unmanned Atlas rocket carrying a miniature space shuttle blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday on a technology test flight that could last as long as nine months.

The 20-story rocket, built by United Launch Alliance - a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing - lifted off at 7:52 p.m. ET and soared over the Atlantic Ocean, heading toward orbit.

The Air Force Space Command, based in Colorado Springs, which will oversee the mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, has classified details of the prototype shuttle's payload, experiments and planned orbital operations.

The point of the project, started by NASA in the late 1990s and later adopted by the military, is to test a next-generation space shuttle - the world's only reusable operational spaceship -to try to trim time between flights and cut costs, said Gary Payton, Air Force deputy undersecretary for space programs.

"Probably the most important demonstration is on the ground, see what it really takes to turn this bird around and get it ready to go fly again," Payton told reporters.

NASA's space shuttles take several thousand engineers and technicians three to four months to prepare for flight.

But the X-37B is not meant to carry people. The military is looking at the vehicle as a way to test new equipment, sensors and materials in space, with an eye to incorporating them into satellites and other operational systems.

This undated image from the U.S. Air Force shows the X-37B spacecraft, which was launched Thursday.

Officials also would like to cut the turnaround time between space flights from months to days.

The X-37B looks like a space shuttle orbiter, with a similar shape and payload bay for cargo and experiments. But it measures 29 feet, 3 inches in length and has a 15-foot wing span, compared to the 122-foot orbiters with wing spans of 78 feet.

Unlike NASA's space shuttles which can stay in orbit about two weeks, X-37B is designed to spend as long as nine months in space, then land autonomously on a runway.

"In all honesty, we don't know when it's coming back for sure," said Payton. "It depends on the progress that we make with the on-orbit experiments, the on-orbit demonstrations."

The vehicle is expected to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with nearby Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert available as a backup.

The X-37B was built by Boeing's advanced research lab, Phantom Works. If the flight is successful, the Air Force plans to launch a second vehicle in 2011.
Source

That's pretty cool.
There is only one way of avoiding the war – that is the overthrow of this society. However, as we are too weak for this task, the war is inevitable. -L. Trotsky, 1939
Mikey
Fleet Admiral
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 35635
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
Commendations: The Daystrom Award
Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
Contact:

Re: X-37B Unmanned Shuttle

Post by Mikey »

Well, the machines have a more up-to-date shuttle then we do. Judgement Day is coming.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
Tyyr
3 Star Admiral
3 Star Admiral
Posts: 10654
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:49 pm
Location: Jeri Ryan's Dressing Room, Shhhhh

Re: X-37B Unmanned Shuttle

Post by Tyyr »

It's a nice little ship, here's hoping that do something useful with it.
Sionnach Glic
4 Star Admiral
4 Star Admiral
Posts: 26014
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:58 pm
Location: Poblacht na hÉireann, Baile Átha Cliath

Re: X-37B Unmanned Shuttle

Post by Sionnach Glic »

Let's hope it doesn't burn up on re-entry. That'd be a somewhat bigger problem than incorrect application of resources, I'd think. :wink:
"You've all been selected for this mission because you each have a special skill. Professor Hawking, John Leslie, Phil Neville, the Wu-Tang Clan, Usher, the Sugar Puffs Monster and Daniel Day-Lewis! Welcome to Operation MindFuck!"
Aaron
3 Star Admiral
3 Star Admiral
Posts: 10988
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:01 pm
Location: Timepire Mobile Command Centre
Contact:

Re: X-37B Unmanned Shuttle

Post by Aaron »

Thank the Dark Gods that someone was thinking past the next election cycle.
Post Reply