Secret Space Shuttle X-37B!

[Old_Dog_Zero_One]

from Spaceweather.comhttp://www.spaceweather.com/
MYSTERY SHUTTLE SIGHTINGS: NASA's space shuttle program may be winding down, but the US Air Force's is just getting started. On April 22nd, the USAF launched an unmanned mini-shuttle from Cape Canaveral on a secret mission in low Earth orbit. The X-37B can now be seen gliding through the night sky shining about as brightly as the stars of the Big Dipper.

Heavens Above http://heavens-above.com/ has orbital flyby pass data for this secret mission craft!

Check it out!

Clear Skies,
Frank

[lknowlen]

Yeah the link is great. Have heard on Coast to Coast and the History Channel about the 'secret' astronaut corps but not so secret anymore. I'm sure there is more than one space station up there. Reminds me of that movie Meteor from 1979.

[TimD]

Thanks for the link. Interesting!

[Kepler]

Originally Posted by lknowlen

Yeah the link is great. Have heard on Coast to Coast and the History Channel about the 'secret' astronaut corps but not so secret anymore. I'm sure there is more than one space station up there. Reminds me of that movie Meteor from 1979.

A few years ago I read the book: The Hubble Wars.... by Eric Chaisson. Recommended, get a later edition, and discount his anti-NASA bias by half and you're set.

Example, NASA = Never Anything Straight Forward.

He makes it clear that the Hubble was one of over 20 similar sized telescopes that had been orbited. The others were spy satellites. The Hubble was aimed at faint stars with exposures lasting hours, or even multiple sweeps lasting days. Thus, it had to be a very still, stable platform. Spy satellites pointed down at a moving earth could not take long exposures, and didn't need to be as stable.

Hubble had a lot of problems that could had been avoided if only the intelligence side had clued them in. Examples: flexing solar panels that slowly flapped, making it unstable, a rotational axis that was located off the center of mass, the front lid which would slam shut --for example, if it were getting near to aiming at the sun, but the slamming shut would jar it, loosing tracking and communication with the earth. This latter issue could have been avoided by a magnetic braking system to absorb the shock of the closing.

Some of the contractors were chosen because of their experience making similar large orbiting telescopes--and they still made design errors that were solved long ago making spy satellites! The reason: oh, that's from the classified department. We can't use that.

Sorry to rant. I wonder what else they are hiding up there?

Kepler

[Old_Dog_Zero_One]

...That's no moon, it's a space station!...

Actually, last night I was ready to try to catch a transit of the X-37B...Across Saturn! Location was perfect according to Heavens-above; only problem was, it was cloudy, of course!

Clear Skies,
Frank