Launch News X-37B on Atlas V from Cape Canaveral

[anemazoso]

What's the delta-v of that engine or is that classified? If we know the delta-v then there are only a limited number of orbits it could move into and conserve prop for an EDW landing.

The infamous wikipedia lists the following.

Powerplant: 1× Rocketdyne AR2-3, 6,596 lbf (29.341 kN)

But unfortunatly I haven't been able to dig up the fuel capacity.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Mini add-on request: Could somebody possibly take the X-37 from the [nomedia="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3574"]Boeing X-37[/nomedia] add-on, add attach it to the fantastic Atlas 5 included in BrianJ's [nomedia="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3687"]LRO / LCROSS v2.1[/nomedia] add-on?

 

[anemazoso]

Mini add-on request: Could somebody possibly take the X-37 from the Boeing X-37 add-on, add attach it to the fantastic Atlas 5 included in BrianJ's LRO / LCROSS v2.1 add-on?

Would you settle for the Velcro Atlas?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Would you settle for the Velcro Atlas?

Sure!

 

[anemazoso]

Well, it appears that the X-37's dimensions are incorrect. The wingtips and nose stick out of the fairing.

BEGIN_DESC
The Atlas 501S with the X-37 as payload.  
END_DESC
 
BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
System Sol
Date MJD 59602.629167
END_ENVIRONMENT
 
BEGIN_FOCUS
Ship Atlas500
END_FOCUS
 
BEGIN_CAMERA
TARGET Atlas500
MODE Extern
POS 9.73 -0.51 -123.30
TRACKMODE TargetRelative
FOV 50.00
END_CAMERA
 
BEGIN_HUD
TYPE Surface
END_HUD
 
BEGIN_MFD Left
TYPE Surface
END_MFD
 
BEGIN_MFD Right
TYPE Orbit
PROJ Ship
REF Earth
END_MFD
 
BEGIN_SHIPS
Atlas500:Velcro/AtlasVCore
STATUS Landed Earth
BASE Cape Canaveral:6
HEADING 270.00
TGT_HEADING 095.0
FUEL 1.000
CONFIGURATION 0
MINPITCH 10.0
CAMERA 0 0 50.0
Fairing 2 2.0 0.0 -2.0 0.0
PAYLOAD Int Velcro/Parts/At500Int Velcro/Parts/At500Int 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.0 1.0
PAYLOAD Int Velcro/Parts/At400Int Velcro/Parts/At400Int 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.0 1.0
STAGE SECentaur Velcro/EELV/SECentaur Velcro/AtlasVSECentaur 0 0 20.75 22823.0 0.0 1.0
PAYLOAD X-37a X-37/X-37a spacecraft\spacecraft3 0 0 32.65 5000.0 0.0 1.0
ENDSTAGE
PAYLOAD Fair1 Velcro/Parts/AtlasfairVS_1 Velcro/Parts/AtlasfairVS_1 0.0 0 16.75 2042.5 0 0.0 1.0
PAYLOAD Fair2 Velcro/Parts/AtlasfairVS_2 Velcro/Parts/AtlasfairVS_2 0.0 0 16.75 2042.5 0 0.0 1.0
END
END_SHIPS

 

[SiberianTiger]

The subj is assigned index USA 212.

 

[Andy44]

What about Wallops? I know Taurus 2 is planned to launch from there and NASA tested the Apollo heat shield launched on a scout from there but have they had any orbital launches from there in recent years?

Yes, you are correct, I forgot about Wallops. Mostly sounding rockets, but an orbital launch every now and then, too.

 

[tblaxland]

Extract from Jonathan's Space Report:
http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/jsr.html

The US Air Force launched its X-37B orbital spaceplane on Apr 22. The
Atlas V 501 rocket put the X-37B in low Earth orbit about 17 min after
launch. The orbit is probably somewhere in the 430-450 km range with an
inclination between 28 and 40 deg, possibly around 33 deg. The Centaur
AV-012 rocket separated at 0010 UTC on Apr 23 and then made a second
burn at 0035 UTC to deplete its remaining fuel, sending it into solar
orbit. The Atlas V is overpowered for missions like these, so the
Centaur ends up with lots of extra propellant. An escape-orbit disposal
was also used for the final stage from the AV-017 DMSP launch last year.
AV-012 appears to be the first United States space vehicle in solar
orbit whose orbit around the Sun is officially secret.

 

[Andy44]

I wonder why they didn't just deorbit it into the ocean. Needlessly sending stuff into solar orbit robs our planet of mass!

I wonder how they they think this stuff can be kept secret. I'm sure somebody was watching everything.

 

[SiberianTiger]

I wonder why they didn't just deorbit it into the ocean. Needlessly sending stuff into solar orbit robs our planet of mass!

As for the latest DMSP launch, the ULA said it was an exercise to study dynamics of cryo propellants in practice. I'm not sure how 52 years of sending Centaurs to space wasn't enough for that, but such was the official claim.

I wonder how they they think this stuff can be kept secret. I'm sure somebody was watching everything.

But still, nobody acknowledges that.

 

[Chupacabra]

But still, nobody acknowledges that.

http://heavens-above.com/

These guys do, but yeah, we might not find the upper stage quite as easily.
Haha, unless someone here has access to an observatory with a lot of "granted" university time.

 

[Urwumpe]

No need for an observatory, even a small telescope would be enough for a good space debris survey, if you have the right camera and software for it...

 

[80mileshigh]

X-37B found! Identified by an international team of amateur skywatchers. It's in a 40 deg inclination:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/science/space/23secret.html

 

[Chupacabra]

Yep, you can use the heavens above linked earlier to find a time where you can watch it. It is reportedly not as bright as the ISS of course, but I think that is part of the point.

Urwumpe: Yes, you probably wouldn't need expensive time at a university for that. But I just wanted an excuse to get to use one.

 

[80mileshigh]

Yep, you can use the heavens above linked earlier to find a time where you can watch it. It is reportedly not as bright as the ISS of course, but I think that is part of the point.

Ah, sorry - I see you were effectively linking to the same news. Might be a bit of a challenge to see it over Melbourne. I did catch a glimpse of Shenzou 6 back in 2005 which was probably not much brighter, so I'll give it a go.

 

[4throck]

I saw Shenzou 7 quite clearly, and I recall it was preceded by the upperstage and/or fairings a few minutes before the pass. These were about magnitude 2 but easily visible. On Heaven's Above the brightest passes are indicated around magnitude 4. That's hard to spot unless you are on a really dark area.

 

[Messierhunter]

X-37B found! Identified by an international team of amateur skywatchers. It's in a 40 deg inclination:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/science/space/23secret.html

Thanks to the amateurs who found it I was able to plug in the TLEs and track it with my telescope last night. It gave off an impressive flare in brightness for about 2 seconds at 1:36

Could be a reflection off the solar panel or the radiator.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Do you think it's the actual shape of the spacecraft noticeable in the middle of the vid, or just slipped focus and smear?

 

[Messierhunter]

The donut-like shape for the first minute is just bad focus from mirror flop, but I fixed it about 20 seconds before the flare happens at 1:36. It's hard to say, but the slightly elongated shape it takes on after that towards the middle of the video might be actual detail and not just a motion blur. It's tracking it continuously pretty well, and I had just refocused it, so it very well could be the telescope resolving the vehicle as more than just a point-like light source.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Might be on-topical here:

KZLA LOS ANGELES (ARTCC) PALMDALE, CA.:

05/110 - AIRSPACE UNMANNED ACFT 5 NM EITHER SIDE EDW134013 TO
PMD071014 TO PMD070004 12000/BLW AVOIDANCE ADZD. 01 JUN 19:00 2010 UNTIL 01 JUN 21:30 2010. CREATED: 27 MAY 22:17 2010

Is the time UTC or PDT?