Secret Military Space Plane Primed For Test Launch
A secretive military spacecraft resembling a small space shuttle orbiter is undergoing final processing in Florida for launch on April 19. The 29-foot-long, 15-foot-wide Orbital Test Vehicle arrived in Cape Canaveral, Fla., last month according to the Air Force. The OTV spaceplane was built at a Boeing Phantom Works facility in Southern California.
It is now undergoing spacecraft processing including checkout, fueling, and encapsulating in the 5-meter fairing of the Atlas 5 rocket. The 11,000-pound vehicle will launch inside the nose cone of the Atlas 5 rocket. Liftoff is currently set for 10 p.m. EDT on April 19.
The reusable spacecraft is more famously known as the X-37B, and its mission is to demonstrate a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the United States Air Force. Objectives of the OTV program include space experimentation, risk reduction and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies.
Image: Illustration of the on-orbit functions for the reusable and unpiloted military space plane X-37B.
Wait--that thing is taking an *Atlas 5*???
I could have sworn I'd read someplace that we no longer had the capability to built Atlas 5s. Aren't those the ones capable of getting us to the moon?
As much as I don't like military space flights (which aren't quite a violation of international law), I'm always glad to see a new spacecraft tested. It's just a shame this one's military and unmanned.
It's like humanity doesn't quite understand that we'll *have* to leave Earth eventually.
Well, either that or we start limiting reproduction rates. O_O
No comments:
Post a Comment