Well, we're celebrating anyhow--there's no telling what it's actually doing
By Clay Dillow Posted 03.06.2012 at 12:18 pm 13 Comments

X-37B After Landing Air Force crews tend to the X-37B secretive space plane after it returned from its maiden voyage Dec. 3, 2010. U.S. Air Force/Michael Stonecypher

NASA may no longer possess a reusable vehicle for traveling to and from low earth orbit, but the United States Air Force has all but established a permanent presence up there. Maybe you’ve forgotten about the X-37B, the USAF’s pilotless, reusable space plane that’s been in orbit since launching on March 5, 2011, but it’s still up there making laps. Today marks the first day of its second year in continuous orbit, a milestone for the mysterious program that the Air Force will tell us virtually nothing about.

The current flight is the second trip to orbit for the X-37B program and the first for this particular spacecraft, which is sometimes simply called the Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV. Another X-37B completed a 244-day mission in 2010. The Air Force plans to put that other X-37B back into orbit this fall, but it hasn’t said when OTV currently in orbit will be coming back to Earth.

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Tags

Technology, Clay Dillow, aviation, military, reusable spaceships, spaceplanes, united states air force, USAF, x-37B
Its current route and ongoing mission are closely guarded secrets--the Air Force simply says the X-37Bs are testing technologies and leaves it at that--but amateur skygazers and satellite watchers say the OTV is looping the Earth on a track common for intelligence satellites. One of the program’s goals is presumably to establish methods for quickly and regularly turning a reusable space plane around for multiple, rapid-fire missions into orbit. But its payload bay--the contents of which are unknown outside the program--has the capacity to carry any number of space-based tools.

Maybe X-37B is up there simply observing the weather--but probably not. Whatever you’re up to up there, oh intrepid X-37B, here’s to your first full year in orbit.

[Discovery News]

13 Comments

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Nikarus
03/06/12 at 1:18 pm

The world is trembling in fear

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nkreuz
03/06/12 at 1:30 pm

it is kind of interesting to look at the weapons bays in the space shuttle itself; almost the same capacity of NASA's. who knows what they are putting in there, spy satellites, which would cost less to send up in the low to high orbit, or even weapons, no one really knows, but I am sure it is for something used for communications or protecting those "space assets", could be the rods from god hahaha

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nkreuz
03/06/12 at 1:33 pm

I take it back the weapons bay isn't that really close to the one on NASA space shuttle but still.

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drchuck1
03/06/12 at 1:35 pm

gotta love space robots! space marines could land anywhere in a few hours, are you listening Iran? cheers

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Robot
03/06/12 at 1:45 pm

I AM READY AND WILLING, GURRRRR!!!!

oh chuck, you such a troll, lol, snort...

.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.

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sam6302
03/07/12 at 10:55 am

Here is a hint

Nat = national
A = Air
S = Space

Backwards = SATAN.

Devil is short for evil DNA

millions will survive

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dontbother
03/07/12 at 11:17 am

This is what's wrong with US these days. All money to military and budget cuts for NASA and other worthy causes. If the US military budget would be cut by just 1 %, it would enable increasing NASA's budget by 30 %!

YOU HAVE TO BE ASLEEP TO BELIEVE THE aMERICAN DREAM

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lanredneck
03/07/12 at 12:58 pm

@dontbother
because we should cut the constitutionally mandadted/legal defense fund and not the un-constituional medicare, medicade, social security or healthcare? All of which are close to three quarters of all federal spending for FY 13. and the DOD is only a fraction of that. yep makes sense.

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drchuck1
03/07/12 at 1:14 pm

sarcasm difficult for robots, cheers

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Robot
03/10/12 at 3:58 pm

Does this thing deliver pizza to the moon? From past POPSCI article Pizza Hut was suppose to have a restaurant up the moon and I haven't heard of any more proposals!

.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.

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drchuck1
03/10/12 at 4:18 pm

reincarnated as a robot, bubba lives! kinda, cheers

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preferred user
03/22/12 at 9:31 pm

"Maybe X-37B is up there simply observing the weather--but probably not."

It is not watching the weather it is watching us!

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quasi44
03/23/12 at 5:41 pm

This just in! Burger King files lawsuit against U.S. Air Force for completion bond violation of a billboard project...



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