Watch The X-37B Land

I thought this was a pretty cool video, and worth sharing.



The old girl doesn't look like much, but it sure will be interesting to read about what she did up there in 15 years or so. I really wonder what sort of crazy toys we have that are actually kept hush hush. For all I know it may have some incredibly innocuous purpose, but I like to let the mind wander.

Capping a 15-month clandestine military mission circling the planet, the Pentagon's miniature spaceplane, one quarter the size of NASA's now-retired space shuttle, returned to Earth just after dawn Saturday, June 16, for a pinpoint touchdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Video: 30th Space Wing Public Affairs, VAFB.

reply to post by Domo1


Cool!
I would like to think that the X-37B looks old on the outside while the inside is probably packed with tech we could not even imagine!

reply to post by LiberalSceptic


That's probably very true. Reminds me of those fake dog droppings you hide your keys in. It is too early for me to be coming up with a better analogy.

I'm impressed with the level of control the bugger seemed to have when landing. Smooth as silk.

Despite more or less copying the design of of the Space Shuttle, the X-37 is completely robotic, guiding itself through the vacuum without human piloting and using barely any fuel in the process. It has room for a cargo payload—cited as space for "experiemnts"—but this is the Air Force, not NASA. If the Pentagon wants a robot that can fly through space for 469 days in a row carrying a payload, it's not going to be doing zero-gravity experiments on any colonies and corn cobs—and don't forget, Russia is building its own. Speculation around the roboshuttle's true mission ranges from space-based nuke launches to foreign satellite destruction.

More stuff from Gizmodo. Pretty impressive it can go that long with minimal fuel requirements.

Gizmodo

Originally posted by Domo1
reply to post by LiberalSceptic

 

That's probably very true. Reminds me of those fake dog droppings you hide your keys in. It is too early for me to be coming up with a better analogy.

I'm impressed with the level of control the bugger seemed to have when landing. Smooth as silk.

Ha ha not needed. Point taken very clearly.

I agree, it looked amazing! Truly like a graceful bird. So precise and steady.
Compared to a normal plane landing, it is like night and day.

reply to post by LiberalSceptic


Yeah, it is a cool little vehicle. I have mixed feelings about it, though, because in reality it's just our most advanced military space drone. Would be nice, however unlikely. to find out that the mission and technology on board the X-37B were purely scientific instead of being related to new weapons systems and advanced surveillance methods. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to learn of the details in a few years time...

Thats pretty amazing stuff.......!
This makes me ponder the future role of robotics in space...and leads me eventually to Pillip Corsos Grey alien
type robotic beings he describes.....
It isnt a far leap from there to wonder if maybe the race of ancients who built the Greys, (they may be constructs, and apear to be subservient to other beings....)mabe ascended or died out back when....leaving these soulless, masterless, robotic race, to somehow find purpose amd meaning on their own......and explains some of the crazzy behavior patterns which we observe during supposed abductions....
Do you think that the X37B is capable of flight beyond the Van Allen belt?...or at least the beginnings of a vehicle that could work out at that distance robotically?
Just thinking of the assertion men cannot pass through it without very severe effects from radiation.......perhaps we are trying to perfect a more wide ranging robotic exploration program because of this?
It seems to me that, with this remotecontrol vehicle, the USA, has moved the bar a foot higher for the space faring nations which compete with us.....
The unique opportunity as well as strategic advantage in having several dozen of these babies aloft, and well armed,
at all times, must be a heady dose for the airforce generals and the US military in general......
The WW3 scenario currently playing out in the middle east, may be in part, due to the knowledge these machines will be (or maybe are already)up in space, and completely free to roam about above any battlefield on earth.....
The fact is this is the ultimate in the term holding the HIGH ground......
Von Clauswitz will tell ou that this is the prime requirement for successful war making.....and a near guarantee of victory in most combat situtations (all being equal)
Anybody have an idea just how many of these are actually up there by now????
Amature vandenburg buffs?
anyone?
I am sure that they must have two models in mind....or perhaps this is the first joint space /strike fighter of its kind?
I could see a variety of "packages" which this thing could be outfitted with......
Can you imagine a J-DAM hurtling down from that height?Shielded for re entry of course, and guided by laser to a deep underground target?
The speed alone would multiply the penetration by an unimaginable margine!
Theyll have to experiment with overpenetration maybe....get the speeds just right for certain depths....
I need another cup of coffee.....boys my head is spinning....

reply to post by stirling


ANY spacecraft, manned or unmanned can travel beyond the Van Allen Belt. The belt waxes and wanes over different parts of the earth, so if you go through certain parts, you get more exposure than others, but it's not going to be enough to kill you, or even make you sick, unless you stay in it for a long time.

Sorry I don't have time right now to throw up some numbers or information about it, but when I get back I'll do the research into the levels.

reply to post by Domo1


Your video reminded me of this one: STS-98 Shuttle Atlantis landing footage from the cockpit...

Link:www.liveleak.com...

Originally posted by BULLPIN
reply to post by LiberalSceptic

 

Yeah, it is a cool little vehicle. I have mixed feelings about it, though, because in reality it's just our most advanced military space drone. Would be nice, however unlikely. to find out that the mission and technology on board the X-37B were purely scientific instead of being related to new weapons systems and advanced surveillance methods. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to learn of the details in a few years time...

I do not believe for a second that X-37B is purely scientific. But as you say, it would be nice if it was the case.