Posted on 05/08/2017 10:28:21 AM PDT by blam
The US military's X-37B space plane landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, ending its record-breaking 718-day orbit with a sonic boom during its first landing in Florida.
The US Air Force has two X-37B Orbital Test Vehicles, which it calls its newest and most advanced reentry spacecraft.
At 29 feet long and with a 14-foot wingspan, the planes are about one-quarter of the size of NASA's now retired space shuttles and have a cargo bay about the size of a pick-up truck's.
The first X-37 program started in 1999, and the X-37B first flew in April 2010, returning after eight months in flight.
The next mission, launched in March 2011, was 15 months long, and the third mission in December 2012 lasted 22 months.
"Our team has been preparing for this event for several years, and I am extremely proud to see our hard work and dedication culminate in today’s safe and successful landing of the X-37B," Air Force Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, the commander of the 45th Space Wing, said in a release.
The most recent X-37B mission, launched in May 2015, brings the orbital test vehicle program to a total of 2,085 days spent in orbit.
Amateur astronomers have been able to spot the craft through telescopes and observed it at relatively low altitudes — a little less than 200 miles up, according to some, which is lower than the International Space Station.
What the X-37Bs have doing during those 2,085 days in orbit is less clear, however.
The X-37B program "performs risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies," the Air Force said in its release.
The Air Force has said the program is testing "advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature
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Got a snout likes S2 Viking.
Looks like a space shuttle mated with a Beech Bononza
I would have said,
“This is unmanned, Surely?”
Ever been to Liby Army Airfield?
Can it knock out Fat-Un’s satellites in polar orbits?
Well, those SHADO patrols can take a bit of time.
So that’s why TCM ran “The Swarm” Sunday AM.
Uh oh, you’re piecing things together. There’ll be a knock on your door shortly.
That's when you find out the inflight movie is Ishtar, which actually happened to me on an international flight one time. Welcome to Hell.
Can it knock out Fat-Un’s satellites in polar orbits?
No, I can’t say that I have.
A little Bondo will take care of that.
Hahaha
I am hoping they’ve got some good drive-thrus in space.
I think it’s a safe bet that the mission is surveillance.
That being said, I really wish we had a Rods From God capability. Imagine an orbiting platform loaded with tungsten rods. Maneuver over a hot spot and, if needed, drop a heavy kinetic weapon at about Mach 10 or something.
Delivery time in just a few minutes, no chance of blocking the weapon. BOOM!
If you need to re-load, land the plane and add some more rods. It’s cheap, it’s powerful, it’s unstoppable, and there is no radiation or chemical residue.
But I imagine the plane in question simply had cameras. Sigh.
Germ-proof suits as vehicle sits on open tarmac... must be a government operation...
Have you recovered, or do you still suffer horrifying flashbacks?
That is an AWESOME idea !!!!
Safety suits are likely due to hydrazine in the space plane’s fuel. It is extremely toxic.
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