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

Originally posted 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 .

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.

Don't doubt the tech that the military has. It's way beyond what we can ever imagine.

Recently I read an article that the military gave NASA a few telescopes to use in space that were twice as good as the hubble, and gave them to them for free because it was "outdated technology."

reply to post by WP4YT


It was actually the NSA, not the military.

This tiny relic of a space shuttle is nothing but a cover for a better craft. Why on earth get rid of the shuttle, then come out with a baby shuttle for testing? It does not make sense at all. The first space shuttle flew with computers only so this is no achievement at all.

This morning, very early over the west coast of Florida I heard four to five sonic booms go off in rapid succession. The first was loud then the rest were not as loud as it was moving fast as hell. There is no way on earth this little turd did that. It was not the space shuttle flying directly over the city loud but it was loud enough to wake me up this morning.

Don't be fooled, this is no X-craft.

reply to post by Patriotsrevenge


You're right, it wasn't the X-37. She never went over Florida. She landed in California. And yes, technically she IS an X craft.

Here's an interesting list of X craft.

www.globalsecurity.org...

I would like to take a shot at a wild guess. In zero gravity, crystals perfect to the very atom can be grown. Flawless lenses that can be used to see inside a human pore from miles away on a near zero humidity day. Perfect resonant structures for fusion, communications, ABM and weaponized laser targeting experiments. (I don't have an uncle that called me, either)

reply to post by tkwasny


That actually makes alot of sense. And would explain the fact that it was designed for 9 months in space at a time. It gives them plenty of time for the crystals to form.

Originally posted by WP4YT
Recently I read an article that the military gave NASA a few telescopes to use in space that were twice as good as the hubble, and gave them to them for free because it was "outdated technology."

I don't know if they're twice as good, but apparently this "outdated" NRO technology can see a dime on Earth from space. Makes you wonder what their new stuff can see.

OK this is for all you Secret XB-37a shuttle mission watchers
who want to know what's going on in the Spook World and what
the USAF is doing on behalf of the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office)
and the NSA (National Security Agency)...so here is some DEEP DISH on
what they were testing all the way up there in space for that last
15 months...it may sound kinda boring to y'all...but on a technical
basis, its just good science and commercial-scale testing
but on a Top Secret basis.

AND NO! YOU REALLY, REALLY REEEEAALLY
DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW I GOT THIS INFO!!!!!!

====

XB-37a Mission Parameters:

1) Tests and Facilitation of Real-time Atmospheric Lensing Measurement Techniques To Reduce Optical Distortion.

2) Tests and Facilitaton of RAD-Hardened, High Pixel-count Segmented CCD Array.

3) Tests and Facilitation of High-Speed Computer-controlled Deformable-Mirror Focus Systems.


=== The below is a summarized version of a much larger document that goes into the thousands of pages! ===

...Earth's lower and upper atmosphere creates distortion at optical frequencies
that reduces the effectiveness of both low-orbit and high-orbit satellite imaging systems.
For example, in desert areas, heat radiation from the ground creates heat distortion
effects that show up as shimmering waves that obscure distant objects.
..
..
..
At optical band wavelengths from 390 nm to 750 nm, the human eye is unable to distinguish
nearly all fine detail on still or moving objects that change orientation or placement on
a frequent basis, especially where localized weather or atmospheric conditions create
a shutter-like or strobing effect that prevents or interferes with the light gathering
abilities and object recognition abilities of human eye-based or machine-enhanced
image acquisition systems ...... Heat-shimmer is but one of the most obvious
examples of time-domain constrictions upon the human visual system.

The human visual system's inability to both both "see" and interpret detail sharply at long
distances in harsh (i.e. hot!) environments is a biological constraint caused by persistence-of-vision
effects and the inability to distinguish wavelengths outside of optical bands that can be mitigated by
the use of certain technologies which take into account optical distortion caused by localized
and atmospheric environmental factors.
..
..
..
Within the area of orbital-based imaging, combinations of deformable mirrors and micro-lens arrays,
coupled with infrared and ultraviolet sensitive, high-pixel count CCD (i.e. Charge Coupled Device)
light gathering systems can be used to counter optical distortion caused by ground-level and atmospheric
environmental conditions.

The reflection, refraction and diffraction of light waves as they are reflected off the Earth's surface
back into the imaging system of an orbital platform can be corrected using a combination of both movable
lenses and deformable mirrors, and the processing of RGB and grayscale image data using digital signal
processing techniques that measure and correct for optical distortion in real-time.

Borrowing from 3D Animation & Rendering and using advanced 3D Raytrace techniques, the light path from
an original reflective or emissive surface source can be calculated and estimated and any distortion that
would cause RGB or grayscale pixel values to diverge from expected values can be corrected for by applying
a pre-distortion calculation that literally un-bends the distorted light path and removes the chromatic
and luminance pixel-value shifting caused by an optically distorted light path.
..
..
..
As a highly simplified explanation, a laser is shone upon the upper atmosphere to measure
upper-layer levels of light refraction and diffraction. The measured angles and levels of
such distortion are compared to KNOWN levels of atmospheric distortion effects and then a
lookup table is then applied to all RGB and grayscale pixel values to counter chromatic
and luminance shifting.

A series of moveable and deformable mirrors use a computer-vision based feedback loop to measure and then
"unbend" the incoming light waves back into their original (make that ESTIMATED!) angular configuration
by continuously flexing and thus reflecting and re-focusing incoming light into a segmented array of
CCD chips which perform the actual light measuring phase of the orbitally-based imaging system.

The advantage of using such flexible (aka deformable) mirrors and micro-lenses allows
gathered light to be reflected and refracted onto multiple CCD chips to create tiled
and nearly seamless ultra-wide field-of-view images that have pixel counts greater
than 500 megapixels.

reply to post by StargateSG7


CONTINUATION OF ABOVE:


To account for edge blurring effects, there is an application of real-time multiple-pass
SOBEL-based edge detection convolution filters upon tiled images in order to create a
grayscale edge-detection map that allows de-blur algorithms to separate out textures
and true object edges thus allowing other DSP algorithms to focus their work on
object edges or fine texture detail only.

Secondary experiments used the actual atmospheric layers as a large primary and objective
lens thus obtaining an ultra-wide field-of-view into the tera-pixels (trillions of pixels)
by using a high-speed timed shutter that takes multiple views of the same area-of-interest
and then using digital signal processing techniques to correct blurring of edges and fine
texture detail. Orbital speeds in excess of 15,000 KPH act as a 3D spatial separation
mechanism as multiple images at varying angular viewpoints are obtained of a single
area-of-interest. Chromatic and Luminance shifting are corrected for at this stage
and simple trigonometry remaps pixels from multiple images onto fine grids of
pre-determined coordinates that were projected at a virtual time and location.
This re-creates a high-resolution and sharply detailed image of any desired
area-of-interest within the oribital platform's view. A Gaussian distribution
of multiple pixel values that have been mapped to a specific virtual 3D coordinate
forms the basis of creating a final RGB or grayscale pixel value which is then
edge-enhanced using unsharp mask algorithms. This re-constructed image typically
is stored upon the orbital platform in an uncompressed format until the next
download event trigger is obtained or triggered. Current storage capacities
within the $$$$$$$ REDACTED platform typically allow for 200 RLE-encoded RGB images
at 500 megapixels of 12-bits per RGB channel or 400 RLE-encoded grayscale images
saved at 20-bits per pixel before user-defined tag-based storage area
recycling criteria is invoked. Download events are typically triggered
on a 2 to 4 hour window basis with gyro-servo-compensated re-direction
of radio antennae allowing highly directional data package downloads to
high-speed air-based or highly mobile sea or land-based receiving platforms.



====

...and it goes on blah blah and even more blah blah blah!!!!

The above paragraphs seem to be meant for a general MSM media release, but there are so
many spelling and grammatical mistakes, it just REEKS of a Twenty-Something Gen Y'er
writing this from their caffeine-soaked macbook and sending it off with no editing!

IMHO, it's a pre-release report or it's the usual MSNBC-like non-edited
version of a press-release from the USAF's public relations and press office!

Anyways...the following links highlight very specific advances in adaptive optics
and computer imaging systems that were used on this particular XB-37a mission
so I'm not gonna say this is "Fact or Faked" but it at the very least has
SOME semblance of reality.





See these websites:

Object: Atmospheric Distortion and Image Deblurring:
This is a goodie! An OPEN admission that U.S. Naval Research
has "SOLVED" the problem of lens distortion:

4th paragraph from bottom on second page:

"Since we solved the lens distortion problem, every time we look into a different imaging problem tells us
that we are more or less rewriting the cook book. Our approach is a combination of Numerical Methods,
Digital Control Theory, Robotics, Statistical Analysis, Computer Graphics and 3D Modelling, Applied
Physics, Optimization and Non Linear Programming …
Again our major advantage is speed and accuracy...."

That's a pretty significant admission of technical prowess:

See PDF file on admission of technical ability:
www.irsd.be...

Optical Band Wavelengths Description:
en.wikipedia.org...

Edge Detection using the SOBEL operator:
en.wikipedia.org...

Edge Detection as a General Task in Image Recognition:
en.wikipedia.org...

Creating image resolution where there is none:
en.wikipedia.org...

Using Computers and Multiple Photos to create Super High Resolution photos:
en.wikipedia.org...

One technique to De-Blur an out-of-focus image:
en.wikipedia.org...

De-blur an image if you KNOW is original features and placement:
en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by StargateSG7


CONTINUATION OF ABOVE INFORMATION LINKS PAGE:


Super De-Blur to get fine detail:
math.nist.gov...

The above patent for Super De-Blur:
patapsco.nist.gov...

// Mathematics of Astronomical Lensing Effects Applicable to Optical Wavelengths:
vela.astro.ulg.ac.be...

The use of Adaptive Optics for Space Imaging:
en.wikipedia.org...

Using Deformable mirrors to create better photos:
en.wikipedia.org...

Using speckle imaging techniques to correct for atmospheric distortion:
www.ll.mit.edu...

Ghost Imaging techniques to Reduce Distortion Effects:
iop.hqu.edu.cn...

Correlated imaging through atmospheric turbulence:
arxiv.org...

And Oldie but Goodie from 1973:
Imaging of Extended Objects though a Turbulent Atmosphere:
www.dtic.mil...

Some hardware used in the Security Industry using Similar Techniques:
www.pentaxcctvus.com...

This is a great article on lensing techniques in adpative optics:
www.laserfocusworld.com...

A VERY BIG WIG in subjects dealing with waveform propagation within the atmosphere:
Publications of T. M. Georges as of March 2003.
His dissertations have high applicability to optical-band wavelengths:
tgeorges.home.comcast.net...

Cornell researchers invent alternate approach to Lytro’s “light-field” camera technology
www.laserfocusworld.com...

Common Computer Science and Imaging Algorithms:
en.wikipedia.org...


====

Again....don't ask cuz I ain't telling....read and drool over all that AWESOME TECHNOLOGY and image gathering horsepower !!!!!

reply to post by StargateSG7


Sorry, I am asking anyway...not where it came from, but what the heck does it mean in english? It's late, I'm tired and all I got was blah blah blah.....can you bottom line it for us?

And does it by any chance have anything to do with Microsoft's big announcement tonight (which I haven't heard yet)? Or for the conspiracy theorists in all of us perchance, Project Bluebeam?

reply to post by Zaphod58


I would be interested in what you have heard...thanks!

reply to post by timetothink


Basically if you grow a virus or a bacteria in space, it appears to have a chance to become a super bug much faster, and much easier than it does here on earth.

The other thing that happens is if you have a latent virus in your system, it stands a good chance of reactivating in space, depending on how long you are there.

So it was that, in September 2006, Stefanshyn-Piper submerged millions of Salmonella typhimurium into a nourishing liquid aboard the Atlantis. A day later, she turned a second handle and flooded the bacteria with a fixative, preserving their cells and genes for the journey home. Back on Earth, Nickerson compared these microbes to counterparts that had been treated the same way in gravity-normal Orlando.

The results were remarkable: the bacteria from the Shuttle had become more virulent. They killed half the infected mice at a third of the dose and in five fewer days than their Earthbound peers did. When Nickerson peeked at the cells under a microscope, she saw that they had not changed in size or shape. Instead, they had become better at forming biofilms -- the bacterial equivalent of cities. In these communities, bacteria gather in large numbers, protected by a network of substances that they secrete.

www.wired.co.uk...


www.wired.co.uk...

The second link goes to page one of the article.

Using Hohmann transfer orbits, the flight time to Mars could be about 220 days, given the right positions of Earth and Mars. So, 440 days of travel time and another 30 days of whatever it would be doing there, kind of fits. Would that not be something amazing....?

Edit: The opportunity to launch a spacecraft on a transfer orbit to Mars occurs about every 25 months.
to Venus, 19 months.... anyone able to work this out on a feasability that this may have been
possible for the -37B?

While this new space vehicle seems rather plain and "Old Tech", it has been in low orbit for 15 months.

I would suspect it is much like what Motor companies do with new models. They often disguise new tech or new powerplants, brake systems, aerodynamics etc in previous model vehicles, these are call Engineering Mules.

For all we know, this plain ugly craft may have nuclear/solar energy, pulse engines, gravity counselling tech etc etc..

Its wing area seems quite small compared to the bulkiness of the fuselage.....which in space doesnt matter.

Just because it looks like 70s junk, we are in the 2010s now, lets hope the "Conventional" Tech is at least up to our Now technology....................the 50 years ahead tech is for the secret stuff. .

Just as an aside, I havent noticed a thread on ATS but I could have missed it, hence I wont start a new thread..someone else can tho...

ARE YOU PEOPLE AWARE...that the Chinese have just launched 3 astronauts (Dragonauts??), into space to do some remote docking test WITH CHINA'S SPACE STATION IN ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH!!!

Are you aware that the Chinese Have A Space Station (Laboratory) in Space????? Already!! RiGHT NOW!!!!

I didnt know and I was a little surprised when my local Chinese grocer told me the other day.
www.livescience.com...

Wont be long, they will be on the Moon...Then Mars....way B4 America.

Unless we can create a truly All Earth Space Agency...with ALL countries involved.

Originally posted by charlyv
Using Hohmann transfer orbits, the flight time to Mars could be about 220 days, given the right positions of Earth and Mars. So, 440 days of travel time and another 30 days of whatever it would be doing there, kind of fits. Would that not be something amazing....?

Except people have seen it in orbit around earth

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul

Originally posted by charlyv
Using Hohmann transfer orbits, the flight time to Mars could be about 220 days, given the right positions of Earth and Mars. So, 440 days of travel time and another 30 days of whatever it would be doing there, kind of fits. Would that not be something amazing....?

Except people have seen it in orbit around earth

That is what we have been told, yes.

reply to post by Zaphod58


OOOh...thank you...I think....great.

reply to post by gort51


The Chinese "space station" consists of several capsules that will eventually be used to ferry cargo to space, docked together. They ARE going to build a space station eventually, but what's up there now, while called a station, is anything but.

reply to post by charlyv


That's what we've been told by amateur sky watchers who would have no reason to lie about it. There are no good pictures of it in orbit that I've found yet, but there have been objects photographed in orbit that were exactly where the X-37B was supposed to be.