Useful for those special trips.
Posted on 05/19/2015 10:08:53 AM PDT by BenLurkin
How much can you pack on top of one rocket? A United Launch Alliance Atlas V is carrying up the U.S. Air Force's so-called secret space plane, The Planetary Society's solar sail, and several CubeSats, or tiny satellites.
The launch window is Wednesday from 10:45 a.m. ET and 2:45 p.m. ET at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. You can watch it on a webcast starting at 10:45 a.m. ET.
The Air Force space plane is actually called the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. This is the fourth mission for the plane. It looks like a small space shuttle, but it doesn't have a crew. It can stay in space for years at a time. The last mission ended in October 2014 after 674 days in orbit. The plane is controlled like a drone and lands like an airplane. The media nicknamed it the "secret space plane" because the Air Force won't say much about what it does once it gets into space.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Solar sails and cubesats are both kind of interesting in their own right.
I hadn’t really thought about it till now but the solar sails could be used for moving potentially dangerous asteroids to different paths.
The plane is searching for an intergalactic KFC.
Useful for those special trips.
Roger Dean. Excellent.
As BlueOrigin and SpaceX continue to innovate rocket engines, the US’ wrongheaded reliance on Russian engines will decline and finally vanish. The cost savings were easy to obtain by buying Russian stuff, whereas the two American companies are opting to design and build their own. There’s also been renewed talk of restarting F1 production, would LOVE to see that. Thanks BenLurkin.
Launch of US Air Force’s Mini Space Shuttle - X-37B on Atlas V Rocket
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJCEVFgswjw
SpaceX CRS-6 Launch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csVpa25iqH0;t=949
Blue Origin’s ‘New Shepard’ First Flight - Tracking Camera Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMmuDIVVwbA
Launch of Delta IV Heavy with NROL-15 Payload
June 29th, 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxMuxZWtiOU
BTW, I also want one of these:
19,000mph space plane set to transform high-speed aviation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgtZCXYmkDU
and Bigelow Aerospace is also still around:
The Next International Space Station Module has Arrived - Space Pod 3/12/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeQtfdnHIXs
a little more about the X-37B
Secrets of the X-37B Revealed - SpacePod 05/19/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7XuhVBIFqA
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