Posted on 06/17/2012 8:20:41 AM PDT by null and void
This infrared view of the U.S.'s Air Force secret X-37B space plane was taken shortly after it landed at Vandenberg Air Force base on June 16, 2012. CREDIT: 30 Space Wing USAF
The U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane came back to Earth today (June 16) after 15 months in orbit on a mystery mission, and its much-anticipated landing was caught on video.
The X-37B spacecraft touched down at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:48 a.m. local time Saturday (8:48 a.m. EDT; 1248 GMT). Several hours later, Vandenberg officials released a short video of the event.
Designed to be launched like a satellite and land like an airplane, the second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, built by Boeing for the United States Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office, is an affordable, reusable space vehicle. CREDIT: Boeing
The first part of the 80-second video was apparently shot in infrared light. It shows the X-37B space plane cruising in for an automated landing, its belly and nose glowing a bright orange-yellow, presumably from the heat generated during re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.
The video switches over to visible wavelengths about 35 seconds in, after the space plane has touched down, and shuts off shortly after the X-37B rolls to a stop on the runway. [Photos: Air Force's 2nd Secret X-37B Mission]
The X-37B, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle-2 (OTV-2), launched on March 5, 2011, from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Its flight was the second-ever mission for the X-37B program; the first was flown by OTV-2's sister ship, OTV-1.
OTV-1 blasted off in April 2010 and stayed aloft for 225 days, well below the supposed 270-day orbital limit for the space plane. But OTV-2 smashed that limit, zipping around our planet for 469 days before finally coming down today.
Just what OTV-2 was doing up there for so long remains a mystery. Details of the vehicle's mission are classified, as are its payloads. The secrecy has spurred speculation — notably from China — that the X-37B may be a space weapon of some sort, but Air Force officials have long insisted that the spacecraft is simply testing out technologies for future satellites.
The X-37B looks like NASA's recently retired space shuttle, but it's far smaller. The X-37B is 29 feet (8.8 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 m) wide, with a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed. For comparison, two X-37B vehicles could fit inside the payload bay of a space shuttle.
The Boeing-built X-37B autonomously landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on June 16, 2012 after a successful 469-day mission. CREDIT: Boeing
The 11,000-pound (5,000-kilogram) space plane's orbital longevity is enabled by its solar array, which generates power after deploying from the payload bay.
The X-37B is built by Boeing, though NASA originally used the vehicle as an experimental test bed until funding for the project ran out in 2004. The space plane then passed to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and it was ultimately turned over to the Air Force in 2006.
Fantastic.
I could build all kinds of conspiracy theories to go with this.
There was actually a man on board testing hypersleep in microgravity.
It ain’t secret anymore.
This was a flight duration test. Extra, extra.
Looks like giant gafftail catfish coming from the sky..
I know NASA wants us to believe that the nose is just heat shield tiles, but I think its actually Klingon design from the future.
Cue the aliens guy about his opinion on this!
Looks like this is going to replace the space shuttle.
I’m somewhat surprised the ‘Administration’ didn’t somehow spook the craft into landing in Iran instead.
Nahhh, we need to make sure it’s fully functional first...
“The secrecy has spurred speculation — notably from China — that the X-37B may be a space weapon of some sort, but Air Force officials have long insisted that the spacecraft is simply testing out technologies for future satellites.”
Good, at least we have something to keep them a little off balance.
This thing is just ultra-cool and very well done. Whoever the program managers are have their stuff together. They seem to make it look easy.
Better than my landings.
Bookmarking
Resistance is futile.
The ultimate high ground is space, and our eyes are satelites. 2B effective, their eyes must be extraordinarily sensitive. That means they’re vulnerable. Laser blinding tech is not super expensive.
Given that SO many of our weapons rely on those birds, it would be foolhardy in a war scenario for an enemy not to try to simply scratch our “eyes” out, instead of taking us head-on:
They want to test satellite vulnerability and effective countermeasures to such an attack.
Because SO much depends on it.
A Space Shuttle alternative: Smaller, cheaper, albeit with far less hauling capability. A pickup truck as opposed to an eighteen wheeler.
Why is the Air Force talking about this bird? Wouldn’t it have been better to keep things quiet...
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