US Air Force's Secret X37-B Space Plane Lands After 2 Year Mission

ABC News ^ | October 17, 2014 | Alyssa Newcomb and Luis Martinez

[Jack Hydrazine]

http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av034/141017photos/#.VEJZiPnF8vA

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for the ping.

[X-spurt]

You can count on the Ruski paranoia to be concerned big time. That may be behind the flyby closeups by their sound buoy “Bear”.

The Yellow Hoard is trying to figure out how to make a replica, because most of their current tech is what klintoon sold them and we they know we know what it was.

[X-spurt]

Only if Mousad was flying the X37-B.

[Patton@Bastogne]

.


Fuel would an issue, say, for a lunar trip ...


.

[SunkenCiv]

Vanguard has been in orbit since 1958, but has been non-operating since 1964. The longest operating satellite used to keep an eye on the Sun and gave early warning of solar flares for manned missions, but I couldn’t find that info. The Zarya module of the ISS was launched first, and the Unity rendezvous with it began the long process of building the ISS. Both are US-owned, Zarya was built in the former USSR. The Soviets tried probes to Mars as early as 1960, all of them failures, and they are still out there in solar orbit (but dead).

http://www.nrl.navy.mil/accomplishments/rockets/vanguard-project/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarya

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/missions-to-mars.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_4

[SunkenCiv]

It’s difficult to launch anything secretly, but I take your meaning. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks JH.

[SunkenCiv]

Good point, but the Clementine mission got to the Moon using a low-fuel, long-term trajectory; that was the main purpose behind its funding.

[SunkenCiv]

thanks!