hereward
06-02-2010, 09:08 PM
The Boeing-built X-37B, the robotic successor to the space shuttle, took off from Florida last month tucked inside the nose cone of an Atlas rocket. The US Air Force's 29-ft long craft, known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, looks similar to the shuttle, but is about a quarter the size. By deploying solar panels in space, it can stay in orbit for nine months before automatically landing itself back on Earth. The US military refused to give any details about what it would be doing for all that time and was so secretive about the mission that it even refused to disclose the whereabouts of the upper stage of the launch rocket.
The extreme secrecy prompted speculation that the X-37B's main purpose would be as a launch pad for a new generation of space weapons. However, an international group of space observers that claims it has been able to track the spaceship has given credence to a rival theory that the craft is instead testing sensors for powerful new spy satellites. Ted Molczan, a space observer from Toronto, told The New York Times that the X-37B was passing over the same region on Earth every four days, which he said was the usual behaviour of American imaging satellites. Its trajectory has been taking it over various regions where the US military has interests, including Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and North Korea. They said the craft was about 255 miles up and orbiting the planet around every 90 minutes. On a clear night, it can be seen moving like a bright star across the sky.
Senior Pentagon officials have insisted the spaceship is not involved in new weapons but will be used to help military missions on the ground. The 11-year-old project was originally started by Nasa but was taken over by the Air Force in 2006.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7756797/Amateur-sky-watchers-solve-mystery-of-unmanned-US-space-plane.html
The extreme secrecy prompted speculation that the X-37B's main purpose would be as a launch pad for a new generation of space weapons. However, an international group of space observers that claims it has been able to track the spaceship has given credence to a rival theory that the craft is instead testing sensors for powerful new spy satellites. Ted Molczan, a space observer from Toronto, told The New York Times that the X-37B was passing over the same region on Earth every four days, which he said was the usual behaviour of American imaging satellites. Its trajectory has been taking it over various regions where the US military has interests, including Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and North Korea. They said the craft was about 255 miles up and orbiting the planet around every 90 minutes. On a clear night, it can be seen moving like a bright star across the sky.
Senior Pentagon officials have insisted the spaceship is not involved in new weapons but will be used to help military missions on the ground. The 11-year-old project was originally started by Nasa but was taken over by the Air Force in 2006.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7756797/Amateur-sky-watchers-solve-mystery-of-unmanned-US-space-plane.html