CSM: Air Force to launch X-37 space plane: Precursor to war in orbit?(Merged)

[Larry]

Geez. Striking out today.

Sorry guys...

You didn't really expect to scoop China with a story about a winged robo-vibrator that's capable of autonomous re-entry, did you?

[Zguy28]

Wonder if it can carry passengers to the ISS?

[JMS]

I like the idea that the "weaponization" of space has yet to begin or that it is in any way open to challenge given that there are humans involved.

The United States has been working on the space plane for twenty years. You can be prety sure, what they choose to share with the public is not the entire picture.

[JMS]

Wonder if it can carry passengers to the ISS?

That's a good question... It most likely could, if it had a universal dock on it.... But it never would... The ISS is occupied by Russian and sometimes Chinese scientists... with cameras. I don't think we would fly up there and dock it and let the them check it out...

[Larry]

Wonder if it can carry passengers to the ISS?

I'd seriously doubt it, for several reasons.

IMO, the big one is that in order to do that, it would not only have to carry passengers, but all of their life support equipment, their chairs, docking equipment, . . . and all of that counts against it's payload capacity.

In addition, that eight-month loiter time implies to me that it has a very low ceiling (compared to the ISS).

Although I will say that I'm really glad to see us working on this capability. #1 on my list of "capabilities that I wish the US had" was the ability to have robot-piloted spacecraft. It really ticks me that the Russians have had this capability for decades, and we still don't.

One of my reasons for wanting that is because IMO, we can't build a permanent space station or lunar base without that capability. Maybe, theoretically, we could build a space station with a shuttle-like launch vehicle, where we fly a module up, then on a second mission, we fly up a second module and bolt them together, and after 4-5 more missions, then it's "ready for occupancy".

But a lunar base? I don't see how we could build such a thing without the ability to deliver a dozen or so modules, each the size of a shuttle payload, to the lunar surface, before the first person arrives.

Gotta have a robot capable of delivering something similar to a shuttle payload, and docking at the station and/or soft landing it on the Moon.

[sideshow24]

You didn't really expect to scoop China with a story about a winged robo-vibrator that's capable of autonomous re-entry, did you?

Especially after he started a thread covering the initial test of the miniature version:

http://extremeskins.com/showthread.php?p=7465132

[mikered30]

So this X-37 is finally going to land in June after flying around the earth for over a year. No one will publicly admit what it was doing up there.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2154405/Secret-mission-accomplished-Americas-secret-space-plane-land-YEAR-orbit--knows-did-there.html

[China]

So this X-37 is finally going to land in June after flying around the earth for over a year. No one will publicly admit what it was doing up there.

Isn't it obvious?

[Madison Redskin]

I am disappointed. I was expecting to see this.

[mikered30]

Air Force sends mystery mini-shuttle back to space. I am not sure why, but I find myself following the X-37B.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/286637/250/Air-Force-sends-mystery-mini-shuttle-back-to-space

[China]

Air Force sends mystery mini-shuttle back to space. I am not sure why, but I find myself following the X-37B.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/286637/250/Air-Force-sends-mystery-mini-shuttle-back-to-space

So they're sending it up to confirm whether N. Korea actually put a satellite in orbit as they claim?