X 37B

[BATCO]

American X-37B space plane lands after secret mission lasting almost two years - Americas - World - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/american-x37b-space-plane-lands-after-secret-mission-lasting-almost-two-years-9803212.html)

Just in case you miss this elsewhere.

As ever, US shows its commitment.

Regards
BATCO

[CoffmanStarter]

Good to see our American cousins deploying Ebola measures :}

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article9803214.ece/alternates/w460/Space-plane-3.jpg

[ORAC]

A9_P87uSKgs

[Heathrow Harry]

Maybe they forgot it was up there..........................


what would require 2 years of testing???

[MPN11]

Presumably if "System X" was functioning properly, it was also achieving "Mission Y", and therefore no requirement to hurry home for tea and medals? ;)


(Please eat your monitor/screen after reading that)

[rh200]

what would require 2 years of testing???

The three flights so far have been progressively longer, seems like a standard systems engineering/reliability verification to me. With a bit of kill two birds with one stone thrown in.

[LowObservable]

Its mission is to drive Chinese milbloggers into fits, and apparently it does so quite well.

[JFZ90]

It seems possible it is fulfilling some kind of U2 / Intel mission, and has an undisclosed ability to change orbit thereby addressing some of the predictability of existing satellites.

Classified for obvious reasons though I guess with even rudimentary tracking technology of space capable nations, they know where it is.

I assume there is no public info on its orbit / altitude etc.

2 years is obviously more than just a test, and as above, no point in bringing it down if its working/achieving a mission. Only a few days max would be needed for any reliability / deep soak thermal test objectives I assume. Possibly brought down due to some failure or depleted retasking fuel.

[Stuff]

I assume there is no public info on its orbit / altitude etc.

I thought so too but there's tons of detail out there.

LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING AND PREDICTIONS: (http://www.n2yo.com/?s=99902)

That site had it tracked live. Search for OTV and you'll see the 3 missions it's flown so far. I've left the link pointing to the international space station so you can see the kind of detail that was shown.

[rh200]

2 years is obviously more than just a test, and as above, no point in bringing it down if its working/achieving a mission. Only a few days max would be needed for any reliability / deep soak thermal test objectives

Most likely, as they do have significant time with other craft in orbit to extrapolate particular information on long term degradation of systems. But that said, there are systems they don't guarantee for long periods. Hence not knowing precisely whats in it, I wouldn't count it out.

[HAS59]

Since the 'big' Space Shuttle ended the STS Mission capability the US also lost any ability they may have had to recover and return some of their larger long endurance Reconnaissance Satellites.

Having a similar but obviously smaller system aboard the X-37B would be a neat way around having to de-orbit and burn up the satellite at the end of its fuel cycle.

If that is what they have done ...;)

The interesting question to ask is, what have the USAF sent up recently to cover any capability gap caused by the X-37B's return?

The craft will in all possibility been testing systems and components in readiness for the X-37C which I understand to be a sort of ''crew bus'' capable of carrying 6 bods up to the ISS.

Now that sort of sized craft would be able to carry a very useful recce payload aloft for a long time.

[GreenKnight121]

Well, while in 2011 there were noisings about a possible enlarged man-rated X-37C, in current reality Boeing's sole funded man-rated project is the CST-100 (Crew Space Transportation) crew capsule.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/CST-100_%28crop%29.jpg/250px-CST-100_%28crop%29.jpg

[tartare]

...perhaps carrying some advanced minature IMINT or SIGINT package.
Low inclination orbit (43.5 degrees) means the only place of real interest is the Middle East.
IIRC higher Molyna-type polar orbits are reserved for Keyhole or Lacrosse sized birds.
Some of the conspiracy theorists reckon it's keeping an eye on the Chinese Space Station...

[Sir George Cayley]

Wot Chink SS?

SGC

[desk wizard]

Tiangong program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_program)

[Fonsini]

My random guess......

Linescan radar mapping of all potential ingress routes into potential targets for precision navigation without the use of active sensors.

The level of resolution required requires months of scanning to complete.

But hey what do I know :}

[ORAC]

Second 2 year mission finishes in Florida. Whatever it's doing, it appears highly reliable and successful.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/military-orbiters-landing-rattles-florida-with-sonic-boom

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — U.S. military officials say an unmanned aircraft orbiting Earth since May 2015 has landed in Florida.

The Air Force posted tweets that the X-37B shuttle landed Sunday morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral after 718 days in orbit. Multiple media outlets reported that the 29-foot-long aircraft's return caused a sonic boom that rattled central Florida and could be heard as far away as Tampa and Fort Myers.

It's the shuttle's first landing in Florida. Previous X-37B missions have landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

In a statement , officials said the X-37B shuttle is "an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force."

Another mission is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral later this year.

https://static.dvidshub.net/media/thumbs/frames/video/1705/523075/486x274_q75.jpg

[PPRuNeUser0139]

0yeD8PjaWO4

[tartare]

...they've finished planting the stealth explosive charges on all the Russian and Chinese birds.
Or placing the killer micro-satellites nearby that'll be activated if the balloon goes up.
I suspect there are many, many more things in orbit than we know of, or can see... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vantablack) ;)

[pasta]

Seems to me that being able to bring your system back to Earth, update/reconfigure it quite quickly, and then redeploy it, would be quite a useful capability to have.

Similarly, having a resuable satellite chassis with all the infrastructure you need to operate a system in orbit ready to go, giving you the ability to deploy a completely new system relatively without the overhead of designing/building the whole satellite.

[gr4techie]

Its mission is to drive Chinese milbloggers into fits, and apparently it does so quite well.

You should have read the apocalyptic conspiracy theories in The Guardian comments section! However, I did learn something new reading a comment about kinetic bombardment and "Lazy Dog". Never knew these existed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

[Vzlet]

Somewhat more mundane than "Rods from God", but I wonder if it's a challenge to keep the X-37's tires in workable condition through two years of thermal cycling in a vacuum.

[George K Lee]

Don't let the Guardianistas see this, then...

(It's real. by the way. Back in the days of SOVs and SMVs...)

http://www.hitechweb.genezis.eu/military_space_plane.files/SMV_space_maneuver_vehicle_armed_CAV.jpg

[regularpassenger]

I wonder if the launch of NROL-76 a few days before was purely coincidence....


https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/04/spacex-falcon-9-first-nro-mission-nrol-76/

[fleigle]

Possible reason it landed at Kennedy, rather than Vandenberg, is that the weather has been crap here this weekend.
f

[tartare]

In all seriousness - although I have no evidence, I believe the US has anti-satellite weapons in orbit.
The first target in many war scenarios is the satellite constellation of an opponent (if they have one) - to blind them.
We know that technology to conceal satellites from ground observation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite)) has existed for decades (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077830/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/spy-satellites-rise-faked-fall/#.WRD9gfl97IU).
I think they'll have some form of micro sleeper satellites, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA-165) with stealthy coatings or inflatable shields, perhaps with small explosive charges or simple kinetic weapons that wouldn't breach current space treaties - and could be tasked at short notice to take out an opponents IMINT or SIGINT satellites.
Others also appears to be exploring the same technology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_2499).
Ground based ASAT missiles have limitations even attacking satellites in LEO, and GEO orbit satellites are effectively out of their reach.
They're out there... I tell ya...!

[PPRuNeUser0139]

I wonder if it's a challenge to keep the X-37's tires in workable condition through two years of thermal cycling in a vacuum.
That thought crossed my mind also but I imagine there's a system that ensures that they are fit for landing after a long duration flight.

[ORAC]

There was a tyre blowout on the first flight which damaged the underside.

Doing some reading the pressure differential between orbit and ground is 4.5% against the internal pressure, far far less than that experienced on touchdown and due to heating during roll-out, and not a significant factor. Similarly the temperature differential is not sign I can't compared to landing and, being inside the vehicle, they don't get exposed to direct sunlight and experience a constant change. As to the temperature they drop to, the problem in space is getting rid of heat, not the cold, and they never go near their lower limits.


https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/orbiter/eclss/atcs.html

[chopper2004]

Boeing X-37C Crew Vehicle (http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/aerospace-engineering/spacecraft-design/boeing-x-37c/)

Manned shuttle type missions could be the thing again albeit much more comfortable than Soyuz from Kazahkstan...

Laughingly I think Dale Brown mentioned a similar reusable space transportation vehicle in one of his high tech thrillers,

cheers

[TURIN]

This was on my local TV the other day. Gregory Peck looking very serious.

http://fantastic-plastic.com/MaroonedXRVBoxArt-500.jpg

[IcePaq]

My random guess......

Linescan radar mapping of all potential ingress routes into potential targets for precision navigation without the use of active sensors.

The level of resolution required requires months of scanning to complete.

But hey what do I know :}

Makes perfect sense when you've seen the high end xilinx video processing chips used in the devices that will be using terrain recognition.

[tartare]

More details...?

[ORAC]

Or updates to the gravity maps produced during the space shuttle missions.


https://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/datafinaldescriptions.html

https://www.ion.org/publications/abstract.cfm?articleID=8288

[pasta]

Or updates to the gravity maps produced during the space shuttle missions.

If so, it's only covered a subset of the data. SRTM orbital inclination was something like 60 degrees, whereas this one was closer to 40 degrees.

[ORAC]

Back in the ground after over two years....

https://youtu.be/Pfr7phE-UIM

https://www.space.com/x-37b-space-plane-otv5-lands-after-780-days.html

[Less Hair]

Have Russia or China, India etc. anything else in space?

[tartare]

I suspect what the X-37b is doing will eventually leak.
The cousins have hordes of people with Top Secret clearances - and over the medium and long term - they can't keep a major secret under wraps.

[Haraka]

Well apparently the " Stealth Blackhawk" is still under wraps after all these years ( Hat , Coat etc. :) )

[VinRouge]

Nothing to say it isn’t simply building confidence in the capability and may just be sensored up as a development type. Then again, nations have previously launched satellites which have been alleged to spy on and even disable other forint sat capability. Could even be a more secure means of firmware update to present assets.

Be interested to see if there have been numerous inclination changes during flight which would point towards this “sort of thing”. There have been a few avid space geeks whom have managed to locate the vehicle during missions.

[ORAC]

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1591467616874414081?s=61&t=RuZdN8PjrCKLYIEEL7GYLw


Confirmation that those sonic booms heard over Florida this morning was the return of the X-37B to the SLF (Shuttle Landing Facility) from its OTV-6 mission.

Completed 900 days in space!

https://t.co/VJAxDEO30U

[ORAC]

Russian propagandists are agitated: frozen Russian assets will go to Ukraine to be used for the war with Russia.


The USSF-52 [Falcon Heavy] mission was contracted 5 years ago, we didn't know the payload back then - now today we find this is the X-37B spaceplane. Which previously launched on a Falcon 9 with RTLS booster recovery. So this is getting a much bigger yet…

The solicitation required 6,350kg to GTO, which is heavier than previous X-37B launches, so maybe it's got a bigger service module for high orbit injection?

This will be the first time a spaceplane returns from such a high orbit, it'll be a real test of the heat shield….

I expect it won't be LEO, it's possible that they have a Mid altitude orbit that is going to intentionally cross van allen belts for the payload…

https://t.co/eRJEEOWGaW

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- The Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, in partnership with the United States Space Force, is scheduled to launch the seventh mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Dec. 7, 2023 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
​​​​​​​
The X-37B Mission 7 will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time, designated USSF-52, with a wide range of test and experimentation objectives. These tests include operating the reusable spaceplane in new orbital regimes, experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies, and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA…..

[Marly Lite]

This will be the first time a spaceplane returns from such a high orbit, it'll be a real test of the heat shield….

:confused: Hmm. Why would a return from a higher orbit be a greater test of the heatshield?

[HOVIS]

:confused: Hmm. Why would a return from a higher orbit be a greater test of the heatshield?
I think, though I could be wrong, higher orbits require higher velocities. Ergo, returning from said orbit will entail a higher speed of re entry.
I think.
Edit, nope I'm completely wrong... It's opposite.

https://seedscientific.com/how-fast-do-satellites-travel/#:~:text=The%20speed%20of%20a%20satellite%20depends%20on%20i ts%20orbit.,around%207%2C000%20miles%20per%20hour.

[tartare]

Very interesting piece here:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/x-37b-headed-deeper-into-space-with-falcon-heavy-rockets-help

Note the reference to xGEO orbits, Cislunar and beyond.
Have seen the odd reference prior to this hinting that the US is already operating beyond GEO - fascinating area...

[pasta]

I think, though I could be wrong, higher orbits require higher velocities. Ergo, returning from said orbit will entail a higher speed of re entry.
I think.
Edit, nope I'm completely wrong... It's opposite.

https://seedscientific.com/how-fast-do-satellites-travel/#:~:text=The%20speed%20of%20a%20satellite%20depends%20on%20i ts%20orbit.,around%207%2C000%20miles%20per%20hour.
Orbital mechanics is all about exchanging kinetic and gravitational potential energy - it's the total energy that counts. So you may be going slowly in a high orbit, but you have lots of potential energy. When you deorbit, that potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, so you're going much faster by the time you hit the atmosphere. It's a bit like aerobatics; imagine drifting over the top of a loop, but only pulling out 22,000 miles lower.

[Marly Lite]

All I know is it makes me brain hurt. Higher orbit is slower. You reduce speed to fall to earth but pick up potential energy on the way and end up faster (!).

My bet is that re-entry speed is roughly the same for all re-entries otherwise you’d not be able to re enter vice remaining in orbit. Err if that makes sense.

Happy to be corrected.

[pasta]

Definitely not the same. I appreciate Wikipedia should be used with caution, but from their page on Free Return Trajectory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-return_trajectory):
"The atmospheric entry interface velocity (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_return_velocity) upon return from the Moon is approximately 36,500 ft/s (11.1 km/s; 40,100 km/h; 24,900 mph)[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-return_trajectory#cite_note-4) whereas the more common spacecraft return velocity from low Earth orbit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Earth_orbit) (LEO) is approximately 7.8 km/s (28,000 km/h; 17,000 mph)."

[ORAC]

https://science.howstuffworks.com/satellite6.htm

https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/431407/how-can-the-hohmann-transfer-work

[B Fraser]

The Apollo capsules were able to "fly" i.e. generate lift upon initial contact with the atmosphere and climb to reduce speed before making a second re-entry. The fastest Shuttle re-entry was at Mach 26, much faster than the normal Mach 25. IIRC, it was the Hubble servicing mission which descended from a higher than normal orbit. That crew got a special Mach 26 patch of course, some things never change. ;-)

[B Fraser]

:confused: Hmm. Why would a return from a higher orbit be a greater test of the heatshield?


Heating is proportional to the square of the Mach number. Concorde was Mach 2 and the materials could cope. The US SST was designed for Mach 3 but was cancelled on "environmental" grounds. I think they really meant that the materials could not cope with the operating environment.