Air Force space plane

[rosie]

This X-37B robotic space plane seems to be shrouded in mystery. If anyone know anymore
info on this subject, would love to hear about it. It is set to go April 19th.

For the air force to be in control of this space ship, well, it just gets me thinking, why them, and why now?



The spacecraft measures more than 29 feet long and nine-and-a-half feet tall. Its wingspan is 14 feet, 11 inches, and it will weigh about 11,000 pounds at launch, according to an Air Force fact sheet.

The OTV will be shrouded inside a bulbous five-meter diameter payload fairing for launch. The Atlas 5 rocket will fly in the 501 configuration with the large nose cone, no solid rocket boosters and a single engine Centaur upper stage.

The military is tight-lipped on the demonstrator's payload for the April mission, but the Air Force says it will test space technologies and prove concepts for small reusable spacecraft.

(You think the air force is telling the truth on this one?)

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0911/24otv/

[Operator]

Hmmm, the space shuttle program stops and unmanned (!) Air Force flights are taking over ? .... is there something growing out there dangerous to human
life or is this a 'planted' news item ? After all since when did the USAF start leaking 'data' about secret programs ...

[rosie]

My point exactly operator, what is going on? Why the air force and not NASA? I have searched this subject, but to no avail.

[MustachedPrune]

Operator I have to refer to the budget constraints imposed on NASA and the unlimited Black Budget availability that the Air Force has at its disposal. It is no surprise that the Air Force has assumed total control of the Space Program just another extension of the Military Industrial Complex.

[Operator]

Posted by MustachedPrune (here)
Operator I have to refer to the budget constraints imposed on NASA and the unlimited Black Budget availability that the Air Force has at its disposal. It is no surprise that the Air Force has assumed total control of the Space Program just another extension of the Military Industrial Complex.

I think you are right ... but this plane must have been planned and designed long time ago far before these budget restraints came into view.
And another question remains: Why unmanned ?

Some say that the space shuttle Columbia was shot to pieces since it was carrying weapons into space (official documentation says 2 military satellites).
Could this be the reason why they continue unmanned now ... ?

On the other hand if they have those advanced planes as described by Michael Schratt ... why should they need this ? Questions, questions and more questions ...

[Swanny]

The military in space.... That's not good

[Solphilos]

Well, they are purposefully putting this info out there, so my question is, what is it that they want us to perceive, believe, and how do they want us to feel?
Maybe they want us to get used to the idea of military space operations, maybe it has been going on all along, maybe it is propaganda for some future scenario? Who knows, but I am always suspicious when info like this is released on purpose, with the appearance of being a secretive operation.

[Carrie1971]

Posted by Swanny (here)
The military in space.... That's not good

Hmmm...... This maybe the "reason" the latest webot warns that earth will have more than one fallen chunck of "something" Just as a warning it also said hords of people would be trying to go pick up their own "find" after the event only to learn others were gonig to find them to get the stuff back as the chuncks will be high in radation.

[Operator]

Posted by Carrie1971 (here)
Hmmm...... This maybe the "reason" the latest webot warns that earth will have more than one fallen chunck of "something" Just as a warning it also said hords of people would be trying to go pick up their own "find" after the event only to learn others were gonig to find them to get the stuff back as the chuncks will be high in radation.

Just a wild guess (but startling for the mind): what if it will be used as a general (multi)purpose
replacement for whatever falls out of the sky and needs
a quick replacement (for tactical warfare) ?

Does this line from Wikipedia give this away: "The X-37B effort will be led by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office ..." ?

But then again ... why would they share this publicly ?

Link to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-37

[Swami]

Posted by Swanny (here)
The military in space.... That's not good

Hhhm, they have been there for a long time.........



See them in space

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn-WRw4b8vM

From min. 4.33

Keep an eye on this guy...

[Swami]

Air Force's mystery spaceship: X-37 gears up for launch



http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/201...-up-for-launch

[rosie]

Yes, but why Swami?

[Wood]

Maybe they are expecting the EMP event soon and they need this to quickly replace critical satellites that get destroyed? AFAIK the military relies heavily on their satellites.

[Swami]

Posted by rosie (here)
Yes, but why Swami?

Cheaper than the Space Shuttle.....?

[rosie]

Maybe the air force is flexing it's wings in space, getting ready, preparing for the take over of NASA. We have been warned about NASA's space program not having enough money, so they have planted the seed in our minds that this is the only reason for the budget cuts.

I am betting the money is getting moved over, plus some, to the air force to quickly get up to date on what is actually going down/up.

I cannot see any of NASA's astronauts as killers, hence the air force now in the sky. They will kill without a second thought. And they do not have to promote "their" astronauts as NASA has done in the past. We will not know who, or how many of them will be up there.

The space program is going underground, that is my gut feeling.

[Swami]

All their stuff is EMP-proof... (Nukes can cause EMP too)

A couple of days ago I learned that even commercial Hummers are EMP-protected

[gibonos]

If you read clif's latest report he writes about radiation that strong, that high alltitude flights (like transatlantic) might be harmfull to humans.
If one (nasa, navy) has knowledge of such circumstance in advance for sure they will get ready.

gibonos

[bashi]

If Gary is right, then it is the Airforce which is running the show in space, not NASA.
So this program might be the public bridge to a later disclosure/justification of Airforce craft in space

[Majorion]

Posted by rosie (here)
My point exactly operator, what is going on? Why the air force and not NASA? I have searched this subject, but to no avail.

NASA are set to retire the shuttle in about a year or less, the private corporations like SpaceX are going to take over those kinds of missions from then on. NASA's job will be to focus more on developing advanced robotics and satellite tech, and, somehow with their ever decreasing budget, they are also expected to come up with a feasible plan for future manned-exploration missions like going back to the moon or sending astronauts to an asteroid.

The term "space plane" brings about the sense its actually a plane that can traverse long distances in space, when there aren't any of that capability. People talk about the secret space program, well my information is that the Navy have 32 orbiting platforms, but nothing past that like "jump gates" or "ftl drive" or "warp", my impression now is that was fantasy, space travel is not easy, its very dangerous and everything around is practically unknown, everything from the van allen belt, to magnetic forces, cosmic rays, debris, heliosphere, and countless other known and unknown factors that make space travel - with current technologies - extremely difficult.

[rosie]

Update on the space plane, looks still to be a mystery, they are still not giving concrete reasons for this project. hmmmmm?

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - An unmanned Air Force space plane resembling a small space shuttle has been launched on its maiden voyage into orbit, carried aloft aboard an Atlas 5 rocket Thursday evening, the service announced.

The rocket carrying the reusable X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle lifted off at 7:52 p.m. EDT (2352 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, an Air Force statement said. It called the launch of the winged spacecraft a success, but released no immediate details of the mission's progress.

The space plane is to serve as a test platform for unspecified experiments and can stay in orbit for up to 270 days before gliding to an autonomous runway landing, the Air Force has said. The primary landing site is Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast northwest of Los Angeles.

The mission length wasn't disclosed by the Air Force.

The service has made public only a general description of the mission objectives: testing of guidance, navigation, control, thermal protection and autonomous operation in orbit, re-entry and landing.

However, the ultimate purpose of the X-37B and details about the craft have longed remained a mystery, though experts said the spacecraft was intended to speed up development of combat-support systems and weapons systems.

"This launch helps ensure that our warfighters will be provided the capabilities they need in the future," said Col. Andre Lovett, a launch official and vice commander of the Air Force's 45th Space Wing, in Thursday's statement.

Link to full article:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/...rssnewsscience