Secret Air Force space plane, X-37B, lands in California after 15-month mission

Secret Air Force space plane, X-37B, lands in California after 15-month mission

www.nydailynews.c om

An unmanned Air Force space plane steered itself to a landing early Saturday at a California military base, capping a 15-month clandestine mission.

The spacecraft, which was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in March 2011, conducted in-orbit experiments during the mission, officials said. It was the second such autonomous landing at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

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From what I understand, this is basically a space drone. I think it's a reminder that the US runs a parallel secret space program alongside of NASA. It really makes me wonder just what they're doing with all this advanced technology. They're certainly not sharing it with the public. I understand that they're not going to reveal the nature of the missions, but they could throw us bone since it's US tax dollars that are paying for all this sh|t.

www.nydailynews.c om
(visit the link for the full news article)

What they really need to do is get out of this old tech business and actually push for some advancements . Looks like the space shuttle bought from a garage sale , and tweaked up .

We won't get anywhere with 1970's type thinking , and tech. No wonder we can barley get out of low earth orbit safely.


I suppose its easier to get funding for things like this based on old tested tech , to keep the funds coming . Then new tech which might have problems and funding put into question.

reply to post by draco49


For a secret mission it certainly has received a lot of press. Hmmm.

Within 10 years, technology will out source even the tech we have today. Within a decade, this space drone will only be one of thousands. China is entering the space game at a blistering rate.

Just hold on ladies and gentlemen, we haven't seen nothin' yet.

Originally posted by Numbers33four
reply to post by draco49

 

For a secret mission it certainly has received a lot of press. Hmmm.

That's a really good point. They wouldn't be releasing this information if it didn't somehow serve their agenda. It seems to me that there has been a growing amount of media coverage and interest in space over the past year or so.

reply to post by draco49


And lots of spiral thingys. And don't forget "it's fireball season".

hopefully this being covered in the media is all part of the disclosure project every one keeps going on about. You can almost guarantee if there telling us this is what they have got then there is a'lot more they have and are not telling us about, they probably already have the next gen of this drone hidden away somewhere.

reply to post by draco49

From what I understand, this is basically a space drone.

Which has already proven to be very useful. 15 months in space with very little to no need for supporting launches.

Makes the ISS look like a giant waste of money by comparison.

I think it's a reminder that the US runs a parallel secret space program alongside of NASA.

Both the Air Force and Navy run 'space' programs of some degree or another. The programs aren't secret (not much of a secret when the newspaper is routinely covering your existence and activities) - though I would imagine a number of their operations fall under a classification label of some kind (will likely be labeled as unclassified and approved for public release within ten to twenty years).

It really makes me wonder just what they're doing with all this advanced technology.

The nature of unmanned space technology means that you can run a number of experiments that take far too long to run properly with a manned crew (which must be fed, supplied with oxygen, have wast effectively managed, and can only be in space for limited durations due to muscle and bone degeneration).

They have likely been testing the function of certain hardware in a microgravity environment for extended periods of time - or under constant assault from solar/cosmic radiation.

They're certainly not sharing it with the public. I understand that they're not going to reveal the nature of the missions, but they could throw us bone since it's US tax dollars that are paying for all this sh|t.

File an FOI request and/or notify your senate and house representatives of your desire to see the program return more information to the public.

Either course may or may not yield a favorable result - but it will stand a better chance of answering the questions you have than these forums.

reply to post by seedofchucky

What they really need to do is get out of this old tech business and actually push for some advancements . Looks like the space shuttle bought from a garage sale , and tweaked up .

Looks are deceiving. It can be launched with smaller rockets than the shuttle and stay in orbit for 15 months as compared to a couple weeks with the Shuttle.

We won't get anywhere with 1970's type thinking , and tech. No wonder we can barley get out of low earth orbit safely.

We have considerable difficulty. Drones do not. They don't have to worry about the same logistical complications as a human being does (one of the most humbling of problems being the problem of pooping in space - research that one).

Sending people into space is exactly a 70s line of thinking. Machines and computers have long been replacing manned labor in the industrial segment (or greatly enhancing the capabilities of an operator).

Why do people still insist on sending humans into space for mundane research and construction projects (that often require them to operate buttons on a machine, anyway)?

Because of 70s era thinking. We need to put machines in orbit to make systems capable of supporting manned operations. Doing things the other way around is just retarded.

Further - we don't really have much more advanced material technology than what was used on the Shuttle. We have some nifty new things - but little that will result in a radically different looking re-usable space vehicle.

Other factors involve cost. Atlas V rockets are used to send this thing into orbit - which are much more affordable than designing a completely new launch system to fit a radically new vehicle design (which may or may not be more effective).

The X-37 project is still in the prototype stage, basically. Hopefully, it will lead to the development of a larger, more capable vehicle (that may use new launch systems and technologies).

Until then - a lot of space programs are, interestingly enough, built off of the old nuclear arsenal and its various launch systems. Without that time - much of the modern launch infrastructure would, arguably, not exist and could not have commercially developed.

Originally posted by jd0Fengland
hopefully this being covered in the media is all part of the disclosure project every one keeps going on about. You can almost guarantee if there telling us this is what they have got then there is a'lot more they have and are not telling us about, they probably already have the next gen of this drone hidden away somewhere.

There is no such thing as disclosure. Only set up and deception. The day of disclosure will be the darkest day in history. No link just opinion.

Perhaps the cargo was a super sized speaker and it flew around the world emanating an awe inspiring "Gabriel's Horn" sound.. creeping out the Russians and Canadians. As well as causing a worldwide confusion colluding catastrophe from above!!!

reply to post by HardyWhite


Sound... um... doesn't have a medium to travel through in space.

Even in low-earth orbit, where there is some drag from a very, very thin atmosphere... there's not going to be anything resembling sound.

A fellow in another forum just posted that he has a contact in the the government who claims the X-37B was "incubating many different types of bacteria in zero gravity" and "At the end of the conversation he said not to be surprised if more superbugs or outbreaks occur."

Just throwing that out there, complete hearsay of course.

reply to post by Numbers33four


Launch and landing coverage isn't exactly "a lot of press". It was up in orbit for fifteen months and the only real news you can find anywhere about it is that it launched, and now that it landed. That's not exactly a lot of press.

There was a post made by a supposed insider on another forum a few weeks ago. The post was quickly removed and the individuals entire account vanished. In essence, it was stated that the shuttle is being used to service a network of top secret stealth satellites. They also stated that there is a hidden/stealth Military space station a bit larger than the ISS and the X-37B was being used to work on that as well as ferry materials to the station.

It was an interesting read but I wonder how a large space station or even secret satellites would stay hidden in orbit as there are way too many astronomers world-wide that would see it. Are there possibly orbits that are hard to view on earth? the poles, etc? I suppose there could also be technologies that could cloak the stations/satellites as well.

Just wanted to share.

reply to post by DJM8507


My problem with the station idea is that the X-37 is too small to carry modules up there, or carry a lot of cargo. It's only a quarter size of the shuttle or so, and some of the ISS modules barely fit into the shuttle bays. I can see the classified satellites easily, if they're already in orbit, but I don't know how well it would do trying to build or service a station.

reply to post by FrostForests


It wouldn't surprise me if they were doing research on various biological specimens and the effects of vacuum exposure, cosmic ray exposure, long-term zero gravity influences, etc.

But I don't really see why that would produce a "super bug." - For two reasons.

First... containment. Presuming this would be created by accident - it would be highly amateur of the research program to fail to contain its research (a considerable lapse considering small pox has been successfully contained without incident in spite of its eradication and lack of current population immunity).

Second... why would you develop a super bug in orbit and then release it upon the population? Much more cost-effective to do that on the ground.... and then release it upon the population (or store it... whatever they fancy).

Originally posted by DJM8507It was an interesting read but I wonder how a large space station or even secret satellites would stay hidden in orbit as there are way too many astronomers world-wide that would see it. Are there possibly orbits that are hard to view on earth? the poles, etc? I suppose there could also be technologies that could cloak the stations/satellites as well.

Just wanted to share.

edit on 17-6-2012 by DJM8507 because: (no reason given)

So there's an astronomer, big telescope, bigger universe. Say he happens to spot said "secret satelite". I guarantee it doesn't have a bright red SF 707 (1-87) sticker on the side that says SECRET on it...

That being said, how does the guy with the telescope know its a seret satelite or, better question, what this secret satelite does...

I'm sure they exist, I'm sure people on occasion see them, but I'm even more sure they don't know what they've seen... Just sayin.

reply to post by Dizrael


There are websites out there where you can track pretty much every KNOWN satellite in orbit. There are a lot of people that put a lot of time into figuring out the orbit or satellites, and tracking them. If you're looking through a telescope and you see a satellite where there shouldn't be one, then you can figure out pretty quickly that you're looking at something that isn't well known, so it's probably a classified satellite put up there by someone.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Dizrael

 

There are websites out there where you can track pretty much every KNOWN satellite in orbit. There are a lot of people that put a lot of time into figuring out the orbit or satellites, and tracking them. If you're looking through a telescope and you see a satellite where there shouldn't be one, then you can figure out pretty quickly that you're looking at something that isn't well known, so it's probably a classified satellite put up there by someone.

True statement, but i still stand by what i said.

I'm sure they exist, I'm sure people on occasion see them, but I'm even more sure they don't know what they've seen...

All they can do is ask the question and probably get told to shut up and color.