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

[TheSeaPeoples]

Is there an addon to orbiter 2010 being worked on or already in existance?
I would love to have the x-37.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3574"]Boeing X-37[/ame]

It's older, and I haven't tried it with Orbiter '10. But it was functional in '06.
Needs a bit of refinement, but still not bad (and much better than what I've made myself so far).

 

[T.Neo]

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

I think that is pretty obvious, the question I was asking was what are they trying to keep safe from.

Secret government alien samples?

 

[DaveS]

I think that is pretty obvious, the question I was asking was what are they trying to keep safe from.

Secret government alien samples?

How about very toxic chemicals used as maneuvering thruster propellant? Same procedures are used for the shuttle. The only ones allowed near the orbiter initially post-landing is SCAPE techs with "sniffers" that check for hydrogen, hydrazine, monomethyl-hydrazine, nitrogen-tetroixde and ammonia.

The GO/NO-GO for the crew to doff the suits is based on whether or not the SCAPE techs can give a "forward area downgrade".

This is the reason why NASA advised people to stay away from the Columbia debris. Each of the listed chemicals is directly lethal even in very small quantities.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Aviation Week: "Second X-37B Prepared For Launch".

McKinney says the vehicle’s left main landing gear tire blew out on touchdown—a mishap not easily spotted in initial photos released by the Air Force. However, program officials say the fact the X-37B continued to roll down the runway centerline without deviation following the blowout of the 300-psi. dinner-plate-size tire is a testament to the integrity of its control system.

Shreds of ruptured tire caused some damage to the belly of the vehicle, which also was pitted in several places by unidentified space debris. “Where it came from we don’t know,” McKinney says, adding that initial inspections have revealed damage in “about seven” places to the thermal protection tiles and vehicle body.

Stressing the use of the OTV as a test platform, McKinney downplays the possible role of the X-37B itself as a reusable vehicle for responsive space roles. “It’s a test vehicle. We want to be able to put objects into space and test them out, and exercise them.” As such, OTV “does not replace the other [responsive space] capabilities such as TacSat, but it gives us another dimension. We have the ability to research technologies, do experiments in space and return them to Earth. That’s a capability that’s been severely limited in the past. We have a very serious and important business in providing national security space capability, and our ability to examine those technologies before deployment is a big sought-after capability.”

 

[flying coffin]

hydrogen, hydrazine, monomethyl-hydrazine, nitrogen-tetroixde and ammonia....

Each of the listed chemicals is directly lethal even in very small quantities.

Hydrogen is lethal in small quantities? I did not know that. I regularly make small quantities of hydrogen, and smaller quantities of oxygen.

I know that oxygen is lethal in small quantities. There are several bodies near the summit of Everest that can't be recovered because of the small quantities of oxygen there.

 

[Wishbone]

explosive mixture is possible...

 

[flying coffin]

explosive mixture is possible...

Yes, but small hydrogen explosions are not dangerous. I take a hand sized mixture of hydrogen/oxygen, in my hand and ignite it. It makes a loud boom, but with no damage to my hand. It just gets wet. An equivalent explosion of black powder would certainly cause damage. I would think it would take a fairly large hydrogen explosion to be lethal.

 

[T.Neo]

How about very toxic chemicals used as maneuvering thruster propellant?

I hope you didn't take my "alien samples" comment seriously. :lol:

Hydrogen is only problematic because of the explosive risk, asphyxiant risk (when there's enough of it to deprive people of oxygen), burn risk (due to it having a near-invisible flame) and the inherant risks related to cryogenic materials (if it's liquid).

The other chemicals are quite toxic, and more probable as propellant, though ammonia is probably the least toxic of the three, with an LD50 of 350 g/kg. :suicide:

 

[N_Molson]

From Wikipedia, after reading that I would not approach the thing without an EVA suit :

Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable, especially in the anhydrous form. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

Symptoms of acute (short-term) exposure to high levels of hydrazine may include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, coma in humans. Acute exposure can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals. Effects to the lungs, liver, spleen, and thyroid have been reported in animals chronically exposed to hydrazine via inhalation. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumors have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine.[30]

Limit tests for hydrazine in pharmaceuticals suggest that it should be in the low ppm range.[31] Hydrazine may also cause steatosis.[32] At least one human is known to have died, after 6 months of sublethal exposure to hydrazine hydrate.[33]

On February 21, 2008, the United States government destroyed the disabled spy satellite USA 193 with a sea-launched missile, reportedly due to the potential danger of a hydrazine release if it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere intact.[34]

 

[Wishbone]

Nitrogen tetroxide is not a present either...

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now:

• Inspections have begun on Air Force space plane
• X-37B space plane towed to hangar (PHOTO GALLERY)

 

[tblaxland]

url=http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1012/12x37gallery/]X-37B space plane towed to hangar[/url] (PHOTO GALLERY)

That looks like the X-37A at the other end of the hangar, judging by what appears to be a NASA meatball on the side :hmm: