US Air Force X-37B space plane passes 600 days in orbit

[F-22Raptor]

US Air Force's Secretive X-37B Space Plane Passes 600 Days in Orbit

A remarkable spacecraft!

 

[C130]

so what exactly is the purpose of the X-37B?
is it planned to be manned?
I wonder if it could fly towards enemy satellites and destroy them??
I wonder if the future Falcon Heavy would be it's launch system
a lot of questions I have

 

[TheFlyingPretzel]

so what exactly is the purpose of the X-37B?
is it planned to be manned?
I wonder if it could fly towards enemy satellites and destroy them??
I wonder if the future Falcon Heavy would be it's launch system
a lot of questions I have

Its purpose is to appear purposeful and keep the Russians on edge, racking their brains trying to guess what democratic evil the Yanks are upto.

 

[C130]

can you imagine a dozen of these things zooming around LEO and MEO spying and doing w/e semi-autonomously. it really get's you thinking if space wars are just around the corner

 

[mike2000]

wow.....im stunned.. 600 days?? the U.S truly leads the world by decades. Im curious to know what its doing up there though. Guess Russia has to watch out.

 

[C130]

wow.....im stunned.. 600 days?? the U.S truly leads the world by decades. Im curious to know what its doing up there though. Guess Russia has to watch out.

I hope that isn't the case. U.S and Russia should be working together on space projects instead of being adversaries.

 

[mike2000]

I hope that isn't the case. U.S and Russia should be working together on space projects instead of being adversaries.

I like the word 'SHOULD BE' Unfortuntely the world/geo politics doesn't work that way bro.

 

[C130]

I like the word 'SHOULD BE' Unfortuntely the world/geo politics doesn't work that way bro.

of course it doesn't

 

[F-22Raptor]

wow.....im stunned.. 600 days?? the U.S truly leads the world by decades. Im curious to know what its doing up there though. Guess Russia has to watch out.

My best guess is that it is testing next generation sensor technologies.

 

[TruthSeeker]

OCTOBER 12, 2014, BY NADINE SAENGER
Return Of The Military Space Drone

With the Space Shuttle program now closed, NASA’s new X-37B, an unmanned space drone is making headlines of a sort as it has now returned after almost 2 years in outer space.


The mission was military and lasted about 22 months. The third of space drone launches as well as the longest mission for the ship since their inception via the United Launch Alliance and Boeing and Lockheed Martin companies.

The X-37B is unique in that it is launched into space using another rocket but can navigate and land on its own. Its missions are classified and military in design and administration.

Now that the craft has landed it will be taken to Florida and sent to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. This placement of the craft is in agreement between the Air Force and NASA. There it will be housed in the Orbiter Processing Facility in preparation for its next flight.

The director of the Kennedy Center stated that the space center is setting up for the future transitioning to a full multi-user launch facility that will cover commercial and government customers.

After some upgrades and maintenance the X-37B is due to launch back into space in December 2014.

With the upgrading and re-engineering of the Kennedy Space Center for the expansion to handle even more space flight venues, it looks like it will become the Starfleet Headquarters after the fictional place in the Star Trek movies. New technologies and materials are being tested and implemented by NASA and its contractors and the public doesn’t know of all of them as many are classified. The space program has lost a good deal of public interest with no high flying profile missions and with a defunct Space Shuttle program NASA is reaching out to include the public.


NASA has employed a number of public relations tactics such as posting pictures of the Sun that looks like a Jack O’ Lantern and allowing people to put their names on microchips that are sent into space. The X-37B missions are so top secret only speculation remains as to what the craft’s goals will glean. With the preparations however for more commercial flights and missions, the public might get their interest piqued again making space flight lucrative and popular.

Return Of The Military Space Drone

 

[F-22Raptor]

Secretive U.S. robotic mini-shuttle to end 22-month mission on Tuesday| Reuters

The X-37B is set to land Tuesday after nearly 2 years in orbit.

 

[BDforever]

Secretive U.S. robotic mini-shuttle to end 22-month mission on Tuesday| Reuters

The X-37B is set to land Tuesday after nearly 2 years in orbit.

i don't believe this until u give the tech to bangladesh

 

[Nova2]

so what exactly is the purpose of the X-37B?
is it planned to be manned?

No, X-37B is not manned but X-37C is said to be a manned plane,carring upto 6 crew members.

I wonder if it could fly towards enemy satellites and destroy them??
I wonder if the future Falcon Heavy would be it's launch system
a lot of questions I have

Well X37B was said to be a spy spaceplane,most probably spying on chinese space station, or that,it was capable of carring nuclear warheads,though all such allegation were brushed aside by the Pentagon.Yet, i dont belive there's anything wrong in those allegatons

 

[TruthSeeker]

Mysterious X-37B Space Plane Returns to Earth After Nearly Two Years
BY DEVIN COLDEWEY

No one seems to know much about the Air Force's X-37B secret space plane except that it appears to be working exactly as designed. The unmanned Boeing-built craft, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, returned to Earth on Friday after nearly two years — 674 days, to be exact — in space. It's the X-37B program's third mission to space and by far the longest.

The plane landed at 9:24 a.m. local time on Oct. 17 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Air Force's 30th Space Wing announced.

"The 30th Space Wing and our mission partners, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, Boeing, and our base support contractors, have put countless hours of hard work into preparing for this landing and today we were able to see the culmination of that dedication," Colonel Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing commander, said in a release. "I'm extremely proud of our team for coming together to execute this third safe and successful landing. Everyone from our on console space operators to our airfield managers and civil engineers take pride in this unique mission and exemplify excellence during its execution."



But just what did the X-37B do up there? The Air Force isn't telling.

To be fair, experimental military-funded space projects aren't exactly the kind of thing you expect the brass to talk about in public. Inquiries over the years, and this week by NBC News, have always been met with polite but firm "no comment."

What is known is that the X-37B has no human pilot, or at least not one in its windowless cockpit. It's operated remotely and lands on its own. The details of its launches aren't secret, but nor are they particularly interesting: it rode an Atlas V booster on Dec. 12, 2012, and assumed orbit about 180 miles above the Earth. That last part, notably, was figured out by a network of curious astronomers, not released publicly by the Air Force.

The plane's size means there isn't room on board for much except avionics equipment, fuel for the thrusters, and a mysterious cavity about the size of a truck bed that could contain all manner of sensors, experiments, hardware — perhaps even a plant or some bacterial colonies. Of course, no one can be sure what's inside.

Until the Air Force decides it's time to spill the beans, the X-37B will keep its secrets, even if they happen to just be ordinary testing of still-classified radio hardware or radiation-resistant materials. For now, the X-37B (and its siblings, however many there may be) will be locked away at Vandenberg Air Base in California, waiting, perhaps, to break its own record for days in orbit.
NASA Moves Satellites Away From Mars-Bound Comet - NBC News

 

[Desertfalcon]

Im curious to know what its doing up there though.

We could tell you...but then we would have to kill you.