Revealed: How America's secret space plane has been in orbit for over a year
- and no one knows what it's doing
The U.S Air Force’s highly secret unmanned space plane was supposed to stay in space for nine months, but it’s now been there for a year and three days – and no one knows what it’s doing.
The experimental craft has been circling Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and was due to land in California in December.
However the mission of the X-37B orbital test vehicle was extended – for unknown reasons.
The plane resembles a mini space shuttle and is the second to fly in space. (VN: The first one went up the day before the gulf blow out that experienced a 30 minute electronic failure of all systems on the rig, before the actual blow out occurred. The mission was to test top secret military weapons, "Lasers?", did they blow out the rig? We had a video showing it did and Tru Ott saw the video and also used it in his blog that we put up on our site. The video was gutted of the two laser beams, blue, I might add.... like "project bluebeam?" and the platform holes fit exactly the beams that we saw, both in distance and in configuration).
The first one landed last December at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after more than seven months in orbit.
The 29-foot, solar-powered craft had an original mission of 270 days.
The Air Force said the second mission was to further test the technology but the ultimate purpose has largely remained a mystery.
The vehicle's systems program director, Lieutenant-colonel Tom McIntyre, told the Los Angeles Times in December: 'We initially planned for a nine-month mission. Keeping the X-37 in orbit will provide us with additional experimentation opportunities and allow us to extract the maximum value out of the mission.'
However, many sceptics think that the
vehicle's mission is defence or spy-related.
There are rumours circulating that the craft has been kept in space to spy on the new Chinese space station, Tiangong.
However, analysts have pointed out that surveillance would be tricky, since the spacecraft would rush past each other at thousands of metres per second.
And Brian Weeden, from the Secure World
Foundation, pointed out to the BBC: ‘If the U.S. really wanted to observe
Tiangong, it has enough assets to do that without using X-37B.’
Last May, amateur astronomers were able to detect the orbital pattern of the first X-37B which included flyovers of North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, heightening the suspicion that the vehicle was being used for surveillance.
Other industry analysts have speculated that the Air Force is just making use of the X-37B’s amazing fuel efficiency and keeping it in space for as long as possible to show off its credentials and protect it from budget cuts.
Enlarge
Ready for launch: The X-37B rocket in Florida before it
blasted off into space
After all, under budget cuts for 2013 to 2017
proposed by the Obama administration, the office that developed the X-37 will be
shut down. (VN: Of course it will, its an election year. lol )
According to X-37B manufacturer Boeing, the
space plane operates in low-earth orbit, between 110 and 500 miles above earth.
By comparison, the International Space Station orbits at about 220
miles.
The current flight launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in March.
- The X-37B has been circling the Earth at 17,000mph and was due to land in California in December
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2112146/Mystery-U-S-X-37B-space-plane-orbit-year.html
The U.S Air Force’s highly secret unmanned space plane was supposed to stay in space for nine months, but it’s now been there for a year and three days – and no one knows what it’s doing.
The experimental craft has been circling Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and was due to land in California in December.
However the mission of the X-37B orbital test vehicle was extended – for unknown reasons.
Mystery tour: The mission of the X-37B space plane was
extended after it spent nine months orbiting the Earth
The first one landed last December at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after more than seven months in orbit.
The 29-foot, solar-powered craft had an original mission of 270 days.
The Air Force said the second mission was to further test the technology but the ultimate purpose has largely remained a mystery.
The vehicle's systems program director, Lieutenant-colonel Tom McIntyre, told the Los Angeles Times in December: 'We initially planned for a nine-month mission. Keeping the X-37 in orbit will provide us with additional experimentation opportunities and allow us to extract the maximum value out of the mission.'
Questions: The unmanned space plane is the second of its
kind to be sent up by the U.S. Air Force - but its purpose has never fully been
explained
Finishing touches: Scientists in protective suits inspect
the solar-powered craft prior to its mission
There are rumours circulating that the craft has been kept in space to spy on the new Chinese space station, Tiangong.
However, analysts have pointed out that surveillance would be tricky, since the spacecraft would rush past each other at thousands of metres per second.
Preparing for lift off: The Air Force said the craft is
being used to test space technology but there have been suggestions it is being
used to spy
Keeping watch: An artist's rendition of the X-37B shuttle
orbiting the Earth
Last May, amateur astronomers were able to detect the orbital pattern of the first X-37B which included flyovers of North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, heightening the suspicion that the vehicle was being used for surveillance.
Other industry analysts have speculated that the Air Force is just making use of the X-37B’s amazing fuel efficiency and keeping it in space for as long as possible to show off its credentials and protect it from budget cuts.
Enlarge
This undated image released by
the U.S. Air Force shows the X-37B spacecraft. Its mission and cost are shrouded
in secrecy
Lift off: The X-37B sits on top
of an Atlas V rocket as it's launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida
Ready for launch: The X-37B rocket in Florida before it
blasted off into space
Mystery: Scientists work on a prototype for the rocket
prior to its launch
The current flight launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in March.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2112146/Mystery-U-S-X-37B-space-plane-orbit-year.html#ixzz1ofYbBu74
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