X-37B: Mission Of Mysterious Boeing Space Plane Extended (PHOTOS)

The X-37B space plane, a secretive shuttle-like vehicle currently orbiting the earth at 17,000 miles per hour, will be staying in space longer than originally planned, the Associated Press reports.

The 29-foot solar-powered craft had an original mission of 270 days and, according to RedOrbit, the X-37B should have landed on Wednesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

PHOTOS BELOW

"We initially planned for a nine-month mission, which we are roughly at now, but we will continue to extend the mission as circumstances allow," Lt. Col Tom McIntyre, the vehicle's systems program director, told the Los Angeles Times. "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."

The Air Force has said that the objective of the X-37B is to test unmanned, reusable space technology and conduct orbital experiments, but many skeptics think that the vehicle's mission is somehow defense or spy-related.

In May of 2010, The New York Times reported that amateur astronomers were able to detect the orbital pattern of the first X-37B, heightening suspicion that the vehicle was being used for surveillance. According to that report, the X37-B's orbital path included flyovers of areas such as North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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 above Earth.

The current X-37B flight launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. in March of 2011. The first X-37B mission landed successfully in December 2010 after seven months in orbit.

LOOK: Pictures of the Boeing X-37B:

Comments

[tulsey]

01:23 PM on 12/05/2011

Just listen to the hawks squak when the ChiComs start floating their discount models over downtown Kalamazoo.

[Ginzu Mawa]

12:54 PM on 12/05/2011

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.02/spy.html

Just noticed that the bottom of this (and the space shuttle?) are painted black. I remember some NASA lecture about a cold war fear of "black satalites". the black satalites were literally satalites painted black so they would be harder to detect (spy satalites or space based weapons platforms)

[jsarets]

01:45 PM on 12/05/2011

That's an integral part of the thermal protection system. The original Space Shuttle HRSI LI-900 tiles on the underbody were made of nearly-pure silica fibers inter-meshed at very low density, 94% air by volume. The outer surface is coated with graphite-impregnated borosilicate glass. That's what gives the black color. These tiles have extremely high heat capacity by mass.

As the Shuttle program proceeded and tile damage became a processing nuisance between flights, new tiles (FRCI) were designed which incorporated some carbon fiber into the silica fiber mesh in order to improve toughness and durability. These had higher mass, but the Shuttle system had gained some performance margin from other changes, especially to the External Tank.

The tiles on the underbody of the X-37B are derived for the last iteration of the Shuttle tiles (TUFI), which incorporated yet more carbon fiber and traded more mass for added toughness. These tiles came into service in 1996 and were used on particularly sensitive areas of the underbody, such as those around the landing gear and ET umbilical doors. However, they were too heavy to use over the entire underbelly without sacrificing performance margin.

So the X-37B features tougher, heavier underbelly tiles than the Space Shuttle, but the design heritage is a direct continuation. The black graphite-impregnated borosilicate glass coating is retained.

The X-37B also benefits from a considerably lower underbelly surface area as a function of payload mass, since the Shuttle was designed with very large double-delta wings to satisfy a DoD reentry cross-range requirement that was never actually needed. In fact, the Shuttle reentry flight profile involved steep bank angles to decrease the lift-to-drag ratio of its oversized wings.

[blurredmolly]

02:37 PM on 12/05/2011

I really appreciate you posting here.

[Ginzu Mawa]

02:55 PM on 12/05/2011

so the black color is coincedence? its my understanding that the shuttle was redesigned to meet military spex. when NASA was re organized post Apollo.

[lifeandvictory]

11:20 AM on 12/05/2011

It's not defense, or spy related . . at least not against who most would think.

[Bhutan]

11:07 AM on 12/05/2011

This is only an educated guess, but my money is on the X-37B being the successor to the SR-71 and the U2: high altitude, high resolution, high security photo planes. What the X-37B can offer that a satellite can't is a much lower orbit, dedicated cameras and, most importantly, not having to transmit image data since it is taking ultra-high resolution images on a traditional, chemically developed camera system. With no need to transmit the data, no other nation can intercept or jam the data communications. They also get better photos.

The only failing of its amazing predecessor, the SR-71, was needing a pilot. Now that they don't need one, they can also go higher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird

[jsarets]

12:41 PM on 12/05/2011

The problem is that this is much higher altitude than the SR-71 (about 10-12 times higher), and the payload capacity is somewhat lower (roughly 1000kg compared to 1600kg), so it's not possible to match the optical resolution. The X-37B can't orbit much lower than a conventional satellite.

Keyhole spy satellites mass about 20,000kg, much of it tied up in the massive 2.4m diameter primary lenses and mirrors and the chassis to keep those pieces precisely aligned. Up in low earth orbit, you need a big honking camera to take high-resolution imagery. It's more like a telescope than an ordinary camera. In fact, the Hubble Space Telescope was based on Keyhole (KH-11).

[thehighbrowpoliticker]

08:37 AM on 12/05/2011

Oh lord, stories like these on HF always bring out the conspiracy theorist, thereby raising the kook-a-meter quite a few ticks.

[lifeandvictory]

11:30 AM on 12/05/2011

Kooks, or people who have learned more than a text okayed by the government for use in a school curriculum. Let's take for example, a school approved text that tells me the best way to throw a ball of a certain weight to have a certain trajectory, in order to hit my target dead on. Now let's say for argumentative purposes that this IS actually a tried and true method for accomplishing said task. However, a lay person to the engineering field who is also well studied in accordance to the "guidelines" set for him but also has done his own research, has found out that, not only is the study on the subject proven insufficient in comparison to his own further studies and investigation, but it's validity as a whole is a complete lie, when he discovers the truth about how trajectories really work. I can assure you, many good people are dead right now for this very type of example in which I have presented. There is a reason for this. Now that being said, you don't have to venture down the rabbit hole with those who choose to believe what they are fed, but please do not call people names who choose to use their God given thinking ability, rather than believe everything they are told.

[thehighbrowpoliticker]

07:51 PM on 12/05/2011

Hmmm...you said quite a bit here. It seem to me that you are proposing that every that Tom, Dick, Jane, or Harry that purposes a theory, no matter how inane or far-fetched, deserve some credence or have their ideas validated simply because he or she has an opinion. I think not.

And to contrast your the anecdotal observation that you cited," I assure many good people are dead right now for this very type of example in which I have presented." I am quite certain you will agree that history is replete with examples of people losing their lives because they had their belief in a idea or theory that turned out to be untrue. That being said, there are kooks out there who use their "God given thinking ability" to offer ideas, theories, conjecture, etc, that are not worthy of anyone's time or attention simply because they do not possesses the intellectual capacity nor the mental faculties to present a well-reasoned and rational thought on any subject matter.

[Rune Borsjo]

05:31 AM on 12/05/2011

Just want to point out that this orbit would also put the X-37 in the southern US, ie. probably Kennedy & Houston. Just saying :)

[MarsAmbassador]

01:01 AM on 12/05/2011

My first guess is that is a supplement to Air Force 1...perhaps Space Force 1, where the President and his Cabinet can safely orbit in space for up to a year following an unprecedented disaster of currently unknown origins.

But what would I know about space travel, I'm only from Mars...

[Rune Borsjo]

05:31 AM on 12/05/2011

Please, don't give Hollywood ideas... at least write them down and stamp them, so they can't rip you off :D

[lifeandvictory]

11:32 AM on 12/05/2011

There's a lot we don't know . . and that's not a mistake.

[mmmmm1000]

08:26 PM on 12/04/2011

That's not the half of it -
Budget busting black ops in space are way ahead of what anyone is letting on.
Plenty more here
http://rockythedog.net/spooky/Glimpsesindex1/GlimpseIndex1.html

[ThinkCreeps]

08:31 PM on 12/04/2011

Chem-space-HAARP-nut-deep-ocean-wibble-nuts.
Don't worry, there's some good drugs for this kind of thing now.

[Air Vice Marshal Park]

10:39 PM on 12/04/2011

You want me to go to a site named "rocky the dog"?

[jonphotog]

08:07 PM on 12/04/2011

One day we will see a return on all the money spend for space projects, as of this date there has been a single one. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[ummreally]

09:29 PM on 12/04/2011

You are wrong.
http://www.universetoday.com/37079/benefits-of-space-exploration/

[MarsAmbassador]

01:03 AM on 12/05/2011

The search for knowledge brings it's own benefits.

"There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness."
- George Washington, address to Congress, 8 January, 1790

[ewickslaw]

06:56 PM on 12/04/2011

I would like to see manned missions again. I would hope to see the possible uses for troop transport, successor to the raptor/JSF, or serve as a new space shuttle for the delivery of civilian and defensive payloads. We need to make a concerted effort to return to space and or the moon/mars. We need to energize our youth to aspire to become engineers and scientists.

[CannabisRex]

06:41 PM on 12/04/2011

Another boring Mars rover purposely avoiding anomalous areas and piddling away billions pretending the sky is red and that we would be lucky to fin water or ancient follsilized lifeforms. There is a black world of a very few in certain disciplines that decide what science will do and how far it will go, always at the direction of the string pullers.

http://www.marsanomalyresearch.com/

Spend an hour looking at this site and to the official links and proof...time to pull the wool off.

[ThinkCreeps]

08:32 PM on 12/04/2011

And what did `the face' turn out to be? A pile of rocks.

[MarsAmbassador]

01:07 AM on 12/05/2011

Silly flesh human. I see rock human faces from my balcony. Four of them on your Mount Rushmore. After they are beamed to dust by the Third Imperial Fleet, you shall personally kneel before the stone visage of Emperor Gal'bash and beg forgiveness for your insolence!

[MarsAmbassador]

01:04 AM on 12/05/2011

I would leave the wool exactly where it is, if I were you...your planet isn't ready for what's behind that particular little curtain.

[dmarrs7077]

05:27 PM on 12/04/2011

nothing like reporters that just have to report on secret projects, what happed to bringing treason charges against these people

[ImaTroll2]

05:57 PM on 12/04/2011

What part of "pictures and information provided by the US Air Force" didn't you understand? It's not a State Secret, DUH!

[ThinkCreeps]

06:43 PM on 12/04/2011

Roll eyes.

[bobjimflys]

05:11 PM on 12/04/2011

I do like the US being on the cutting edge of technology.
Does not look like the Aurora aircraft.
So when the automatic cuts start cutting into the defense budget will this be exempt?

[SkyhawkIIAimer]

05:06 PM on 12/04/2011

Americans are two and three generations away from the "space race" and forget what it's all about:

Demilitarization of space.

Check the history. Most of the countries were forced to sign treaties that kept offensive military hardware out of space.

Under previous international law, it was legal for any country to shoot down any satellite that crossed into its infinite space (when they developed the capability).

There was a reason that the first person to set a human foot on the moon was a civilian.

[smokeypenguin]

06:16 PM on 12/04/2011

armstrong was a formal naval aviator and buzz aldrin was in the air force at the time. So what's that reason?

[SkyhawkIIAimer]

07:01 PM on 12/04/2011

Armstrong was not in the military.

Just a perception thing. NASA was civilian, so was the first guy on the moon.

[tumbler snapper]

06:31 PM on 12/05/2011

Armstrong was a long-time civilian employee of NASA.

[ThinkCreeps]

06:46 PM on 12/04/2011

The reason being that there was no military purpose in being on the moon. A political purpose certainly, but no military purpose.

Jurisdiction in space remains a complicated issue.
Satellites cannot avoid overflights, and so targetting them for so doing is unreasonable.
Nevertheless, it is also reasonable for a country to defend itself from attack, should a satellite
drop something nasty.

[SkyhawkIIAimer]

07:06 PM on 12/04/2011

During that time, there was plenty of cold-war paranoia about the Soviet's robotic capabilities and the possibility of parking weapons on the moon as a second-strike capability.

You can get a lot more payload when you don't have to put in human factors equipment.

[lukedude27]

05:05 PM on 12/04/2011

I would hope that it is doing secret spy missions. We are spending a fortune on it we need to get something out of it. NASA serves a vital role in our national defense. The U.S. is the #1 nation in space. We have the greatest technology and equipment,

[UtahLiberal45]

02:50 PM on 12/05/2011

We no longer launch our astronauts, the space shuttle is ended. We pay Russia to take out astronauts to the space station and thats the way it will be for the next 3 years or so. We do well with non-manned missions, like to Mars and such. But china and other nations have goals to go to the moon, while our goal is Mars (25 years away). NASA has been reduced by congress and is not what it was in the 60's and 70's