Arkaign
Lifer
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...-unmanned-space-shuttle-launched-tonight.html
I've been following this for quite some time, and the mission seems to be going well from what little we know. If the scheduled operation time is correct, this thing should be back soon, if not secretly already back.
China recently demoed how they are capable of shooting down satellites, so this sucker sort of plays into that by being able to :
(1)- Perform military satellite duties, but be able to evade missile attacks.
and interestingly :
(2)- Presumably it would be child's play to use this thing to pop around orbit and examine/disable 'enemy' satellites.
The article above has a funny sequence of quotes :
Air Force deputy under-secretary for space systems Gary Payton, admitted it was impossible to hide a space launch but was cagey about the what exactly the X-37B would do.
He says "' don't know how this could be called weaponisation of space,' he said. 'It's just an updated version of the Space Shuttle type of activities in space."
followed immediately by :
'We, the Air Force, have a suite of military missions in space and this new vehicle could potentially help us do those missions better.'
lol. Well whatever makes sense to that guy.
I'm kinda sad that this was taken away from NASA and put under Darpa classified status, but I guess if this thing does the job well, good show then.
The capabilities of such a thing are really impressive. Never before has the possibility to pop a mobile vehicle around from spot to spot in orbit been around (at least not known), and without a crew/etc to worry about, it can stay up there damned close to a year at a go.
I've been following this for quite some time, and the mission seems to be going well from what little we know. If the scheduled operation time is correct, this thing should be back soon, if not secretly already back.
China recently demoed how they are capable of shooting down satellites, so this sucker sort of plays into that by being able to :
(1)- Perform military satellite duties, but be able to evade missile attacks.
and interestingly :
(2)- Presumably it would be child's play to use this thing to pop around orbit and examine/disable 'enemy' satellites.
The article above has a funny sequence of quotes :
Air Force deputy under-secretary for space systems Gary Payton, admitted it was impossible to hide a space launch but was cagey about the what exactly the X-37B would do.
He says "' don't know how this could be called weaponisation of space,' he said. 'It's just an updated version of the Space Shuttle type of activities in space."
followed immediately by :
'We, the Air Force, have a suite of military missions in space and this new vehicle could potentially help us do those missions better.'
lol. Well whatever makes sense to that guy.
I'm kinda sad that this was taken away from NASA and put under Darpa classified status, but I guess if this thing does the job well, good show then.
The capabilities of such a thing are really impressive. Never before has the possibility to pop a mobile vehicle around from spot to spot in orbit been around (at least not known), and without a crew/etc to worry about, it can stay up there damned close to a year at a go.
