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

[Orbinaut Pete]

SPACE.com: "Secretive Air Force Robotic Space Plane May Be Nearing Mission's End".

 

[JonnyBGoode]

Does the X-37 add-on for Orbiter work in the latest release? I'm going to have to try it out, I think...

 

[SiberianTiger]

The X-37B has been detected in a orbit considerably lower than before:

X-37B OTV 1-1                                            280 X 291 km
1 36514U 10015A   10327.74357191  .00025051  00000-0  55503-4 0    04
2 36514  39.9869 111.4048 0008163   6.5863 353.5069 15.96830074    04

Also, according to http://www.space.com/news/secret-military-space-plane-nears-mission-end-101122.html,

"Nothing new," said U.S. Air Force Major, Tracy Bunko, a spokeswoman for the mission at the Pentagon's Air Force press desk.

"The first flight of the X-37B/OTV-1 is ongoing and continues to focus on checking out the on-orbit performance of the vehicle and proving the technologies required for long-duration, re-usable space vehicles with autonomous re-entry and landing capabilities," Bunko told SPACE.com.

Bunko said that after the X-37B test objectives are satisfied, "we look forward to a successful re-entry and recovery at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California."

No landing date has been scheduled, she added.

Its landing can be expected to happen in the nearest future.

 

[N_Molson]

Spaceflight Now :

U.S. military space plane nearing end of design life

Observers tracking movements of the U.S. Air Force's X-37B secretive space plane report the spacecraft is dropping altitude, a possible sign the clandestine mission is near landing as it approaches the limit of the its design life.

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1011/30x37landing/

Secret mini-shuttle due for landing as soon as Friday
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 30, 2010


The U.S. Air Force's clandestine X-37B space plane will glide back to Earth as soon as Friday and land on a concrete runway in California, the military announced Tuesday.


The X-37B spaceplane sits on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base during prelaunch taxi tests. Credit: U.S. Air Force


The X-37B spacecraft, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, has been circling Earth since April 22 conducting classified tests and technology demonstrations while under the watchful eye of amateur observers on the ground.

The two-paragraph statement issued by the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base says the "exact landing date and time will depend on technical and weather considerations," but it is expected between Friday and Monday.

Preparations for the landing are underway at Vandenberg, the statement said.

Landing opportunities are available in the early morning Pacific time, according to multiple sources.

The winged spacecraft will fire its main engine to drop from orbit and descend through the atmosphere, braving searing hot temperatures over the Pacific Ocean under an insulating shield of blankets and ceramic tiles.

It will be the first attempted fully autonomous re-entry and runway landing from orbit in the history of the U.S. space program. The Soviet Union's Buran space shuttle accomplished the feat in a single automated test flight in 1988.

The X-37B final approach will be guided by a differential Global Positioning System precision landing system to feed navigation data into the craft's flight computer, giving the vehicle cues as it flies toward Vandenberg and lines up with the runway.

The space plane will arrive near the landing site and align with the runway for a steep final approach glide. In the last few seconds of the flight, the craft will flare its nose, deploy its tricycle landing gear and slap down on the runway.

The craft carries a destruct system to terminate the flight if it veers off course.

Vandenberg's runway is 15,000 feet long and stretches from northwest to southeast.

Edwards Air Force Base is an alternate landing site for the mission.

The Air Force did not provide any more details Tuesday, but a Pentagon spokesperson said more information could be released later this week.

Before Tuesday's terse press release, the Air Force was mum on progress of the X-37B mission since it entered a news blackout about 17 minutes after launch April 22.


An artist's concept of an X-37 re-entry when the program was under NASA management. Credit: NASA/MSFC


Molczan, a respected skywatcher based in Canada, reports the space plane is now in a nearly circular orbit about 177 miles high with an inclination of 40 degrees.

A loosely-affiliated network of satellite observers has catalogued four major maneuvers by the X-37B since its launch. Once in August and October, then twice in November, observers lost track of the spacecraft only to rediscover the satellite in a different orbit.

Firings of the X-37B's powerful main engine, nearly the size of the space shuttle's primary orbit-changing thrusters, Oct. 6, Nov. 1 and Nov. 12 decreased the vehicle's altitude, a potential clue it was approaching landing.

From SeeSat-L:

Air Force Space CommandPreparations for the first landing of the X-37B are underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Space professionals
from the 30th Space Wing will monitor the de-orbit and landing of the Air Force's first X-37B, called the Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1).
While the exact landing date and time will depend on technical and weather considerations, it is expected to occur between Friday,
December 3, and Monday, December 6.

 

[orb]

Santa Maria Times: X-37B to land at Vandenberg:

{...}

The military has released the typical notices to pilots and mariners, or NOTAMs, warning of an upcoming operation at the base.

The notice advises of a military operation between 10 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday [probably local / PST - orb].

Those advisories are issued when a launch is about to happen from Vandenberg. However, the next launch from the base is a missile-defense test tentatively scheduled for Dec. 14.

{...}

USAF Press Release: Preparations underway for first landing of X-37B.

SPACE.com: Secret X-37B Robotic Space Plane Returning to Earth Soon.

 

[Evil_Onyx]

Looks like its back

12/3/2010 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The U.S. Air Force's first unmanned re-entry spacecraft landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1:16 a.m. today.

Spaceflight Now - Home again: U.S. military space plane returns to Earth

http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123233195

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11911335

 

[SiberianTiger]

Footage of the landing taken by an IR camera:

 

[N_Molson]

Very interesting. It's great to see that research on lifting bodies is still active and successful. It's the first time that a spaceplane reenters Earth atmosphere after 225 days in space. It also demonstrates the reliability of a reentry and landing autopilot. :thumbup:

 

[orb]

NASASpaceFlight: X-37B lands successfully following 220 days in space:

The US Air Force’s X-37B has successfully returned back to Earth on Friday morning, landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:16am GMT. Also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1), its maiden voyage involved 220 days on orbit, conducting experiments and testing its systems, before carrying out the first autonomous re-entry and landing in the recorded history of the US space programme.

{...}

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

A photo of the X-37B post-landing.

 

[cljohnston]

30th Space Wing at Vandenberg posted a bunch of pics on their Facebook photo album.

 

[T.Neo]

Those pictures are awesome, beautiful- I love the greyish look of the upper side TPS, compared to the white of STS. Is that due to the reentry or is it by design?

It reminds me of STS, it's almost sci-fi... it is what, 22 years since a spacecraft other than STS has reentered from orbit and landed on a runway? Isn't it the third flight-completed spaceplane design ever?

Also, did anyone else notice that they're walking around the vehicle in some sort of protective clothing? Is that due to the presence of toxic propellant?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Video: X-37B Landing at Vandenberg AFB.​

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTxMbda-j4Q"]YouTube - X-37B Landing at Vandenberg AFB[/ame]

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Two hi-res post-landing photos from Boeing! :thumbup:

 

[N_Molson]

Amazing... You would never guess that this big toy just spent 225 days in space, it seems in excellent shape... :blink:

 

[Aeadar]

it is what, 22 years since a spacecraft other than STS has reentered from orbit and landed on a runway? Isn't it the third flight-completed spaceplane design ever?

Ok, I'm at a loss. What spacecraft other than STS has returned from orbit to land on a runway? Before today, that is.




:hail:

 

[orb]

Ok, I'm at a loss. What spacecraft other than STS has returned from orbit to land on a runway? Before today, that is.

Buran.

 

[Aeadar]

Wow. I learn something new everyday! I had no idea it had flown until just now.:blush:

Thanks, I was racking my brain.:lol:





:hail:

 

[Suzy]

...

Also, did anyone else notice that they're walking around the vehicle in some sort of protective clothing? Is that due to the presence of toxic propellant?

From their Facebook page: they're wearing personal protective gear while they make sure the vehicle is safe and that there's nothing hazardous.