Here's everything we know about the mysterious Air Force plane that just landed after 2 years in space

[Right_in_Virginia]

Here's everything we know about the mysterious Air Force plane that just landed after 2 years in space
Business Insider, May 8, 2017, Christopher Woody

The US military's X-37B space plane landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, ending its record-breaking 718-day orbit with a sonic boom during its first landing in Florida.

The US Air Force has two X-37B Orbital Test Vehicles, which it calls its "newest and most advanced reentry spacecraft."

At 29 feet long and with a 14-foot wingspan, the planes are about one-quarter of the size of NASA's retired space shuttles and have a cargo bay about the size of a pickup truck's.

The first X-37 program started in 1999, and the X-37B first flew in April 2010, returning after eight months.

The next mission, launched in March 2011, was 15 months, and the third mission, in December 2012, lasted 22 months.

"Our team has been preparing for this event for several years, and I am extremely proud to see our hard work and dedication culminate in today's safe and successful landing of the X-37B," Air Force Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, the commander of the 45th Space Wing, said in a release.

The most recent X-37B mission, launched in May 2015, brings the orbital test vehicle program to a total of 2,085 days spent in orbit.

Amateur astronomers have spotted the craft through telescopes and observed it at relatively low altitudes — a little less than 200 miles, according to some, which is lower than the International Space Station.

What the X-37Bs have done during those 2,085 days in orbit is less clear, however.





More:  http://www.businessinsider.com/details-about-air-force-space-plane-that-spent-2-years-in-space-2017-5

[Right_in_Virginia]

[mirraflake]

I bet the stuff the military has right now would knock your socks off. My bet they have some new super weapon they will try out on NK.  Just as the Stealth B-2 and F-117A was introduced n Gulf War I and those two planes will be as if they are the Wright Brothers era compared to what we don't know about

[ABX]

I bet the stuff the military has right now would knock your socks off. My bet they have some new super weapon they will try out on NK.  Just as the Stealth B-2 and F-117A was introduced n Gulf War I and those two planes will be as if they are the Wright Brothers era compared to what we don't know about

Yep... I was told a long time ago that whatever they reveal as being 'brand new' and innovative now is actually 20 year old technology compared to what is still secret.

[driftdiver]

Yep... I was told a long time ago that whatever they reveal as being 'brand new' and innovative now is actually 20 year old technology compared to what is still secret.

Depends, some is and some isn't.  Generally when it comes to aircraft its 20-30 years.   

[Wingnut]

So NASA finally put an F-150 in space!  Got to love that.

[Cripplecreek]

Yep... I was told a long time ago that whatever they reveal as being 'brand new' and innovative now is actually 20 year old technology compared to what is still secret.

It depends. The flying wing design took nearly 50 years to become truly viable when computer technology made it safe enough to fly as more than a test design.

Edwards Air Force base is named after Captain Glen Edwards who died while testing a flying wing design in 1948. (Northrop YB-49)

After his first few flights, he was not favorably impressed, confiding to his diary that it was "the darndest airplane I've ever tried to do anything with. Quite uncontrollable at times." Then, on June 5, 1948, he was flying as co-pilot with Maj. Daniel Forbes when the airplane departed from controlled flight and broke apart in the sky northwest of the base. All five crew members were killed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Edwards_(pilot)#Loss

The F-117 was a similar situation. They knew for a long time that the diamond faceted surfaces would deflect radar but they couldn't fly the plane.

[driftdiver]

It depends. The flying wing design took nearly 50 years to become truly viable when computer technology made it safe enough to fly as more than a test design.

Edwards Air Force base is named after Captain Glen Edwards who died while testing a flying wing design in 1948. (Northrop YB-49)

After his first few flights, he was not favorably impressed, confiding to his diary that it was "the darndest airplane I've ever tried to do anything with. Quite uncontrollable at times." Then, on June 5, 1948, he was flying as co-pilot with Maj. Daniel Forbes when the airplane departed from controlled flight and broke apart in the sky northwest of the base. All five crew members were killed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Edwards_(pilot)#Loss

The F-117 was a similar situation. They knew for a long time that the diamond faceted surfaces would deflect radar but they couldn't fly the plane.

That B2 that crashed was apparently due to a single sensor that wasn't calibrated correctly for the humidity.  Loss of control due to the computer having the wrong input.

[truth_seeker]

Think if we could build things like this stealthy, by the hundreds, with payloads which could be dropped on populated areas, that would render people temporarily paralyzed?

And to curtail the paralysis, would require secret antidotes which we alone had?

Quite a bit more "civilized" than Dresden, Berlin, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, right?

"Dear Leader, Dear Fuhrer: Surrender immediately, or tomorrow brings horror which the world has not yet seen."

[geronl]

Being able to launch low-altitude, short-term spy satellites is something we have been able to do for a while. If the enemy takes out our big spy sats, we launch them. This kind of vehicle makes them re-usable instead of them burning up on re-entry.

[Right_in_Virginia]

FYI @kevindavis .... I thought this was mighty interesting ..... 

And methinks you will too!   ^-^

[EC]

That's pretty strange gear to be wearing to check over a returning orbiter.

[kevindavis007]

I wonder if there was any truth to the rumours that the Air Force was testing an EM Drive...



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[r9etb]

That's pretty strange gear to be wearing to check over a returning orbiter.

In case of hydrazine fumes -- bad stuff.

[Oceander]

In case of hydrazine fumes -- bad stuff.

I was thinking the same thing. 

[EC]

In case of hydrazine fumes -- bad stuff.

Fair point. So used to solid fuels at work, got a bit of a blind spot for the hypergolics. Hydrazine never even crossed me mind. 

[LateForLunch]

In case of hydrazine fumes -- bad stuff.

Any mention of hydrazine makes me think of two things (1) Start Trek TOS and (2) How difficult it will be to colonize Mars since as far as we know, every trace of water on the planet is contaminated with a ton of hydrazine (a creation of solar radiation's effect on chlorine and other chemicals over long exposure).

If they are planning on using that water for human consumption/use, they will have to figure out an efficient way to remove the hydrazine. On Earth, hydrazine-contaminated water (from contact with rocket propellant) goes to a toxic waste dump. I have never heard of any cost effective method for removing it from water contaminated with it.

[Joe Wooten]

Any mention of hydrazine makes me think of two things (1) Start Trek TOS and (2) How difficult it will be to colonize Mars since as far as we know, every trace of water on the planet is contaminated with a ton of hydrazine (a creation of solar radiation's effect on chlorine and other chemicals over long exposure).

If they are planning on using that water for human consumption/use, they will have to figure out an efficient way to remove the hydrazine. On Earth, hydrazine-contaminated water (from contact with rocket propellant) goes to a toxic waste dump. I have never heard of any cost effective method for removing it from water contaminated with it.

Hydrazine water chemistry is used in the nuke plants a lot for oxygen control. We can get it out of water when necessary.

[LateForLunch]

Hydrazine water chemistry is used in the nuke plants a lot for oxygen control. We can get it out of water when necessary.

That's good to know, Joe!! I don't suppose that you also know whether the machinery/materials (pumps/tanks/solvents/binders/filters) for doing that could be cost-effectively transported to, assembled, operated and maintained in working condition on Mars for years and years?

[Joe Wooten]

That's good to know, Joe!! I don't suppose that you also know whether the machinery/materials (pumps/tanks/solvents/binders/filters) for doing that could be cost-effectively transported to, assembled, operated and maintained in working condition on Mars for years and years?

Yes they can, but it would take several large boosters to get the stuff in orbit and then you have the problem of getting it to Mars and landing it safely there. Then you have to have a steady supply of ion exchange resins and chemicals to replace depleted stocks. It is neither small nor cheap. Distillation of the local water ice might be a better option, though hydrazine can carry over in water vapor.

I thought peroxides were the contaminant problem on Mars?