Behind the Air Force's Secret Robotic Space Plane

[Are_grits_groceries]

Move over NASA. The U.S. Air Force has spent decades on the concept: an unmanned space plane that can be used to spy, reposition satellites, possibly even bomb targets, then return to base. A successful launch next week could turn that vision into a reality.

When the engines of a 19-story Atlas V ignite in April at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the liftoff will look like any other for the workhorse launch vehicle. After about 4 minutes, the engines will cut off and the rocket's first stage will fall away, freeing the second stage to boost the upper section of the rocket into low Earth orbit.

Away from prying eyes, the mission will cease to be ordinary. A few seconds after the second stage fires, the fairing, a protective shroud that surrounds the cargo at the rocket's tip, will split in half, revealing the classified payload: a 29-foot-long delta-wing spacecraft called the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. It might look like a miniature version of the space shuttle, but this spacecraft is unmanned, and instead of NASA, the U.S. Air Force is operating it. The moment the X-37B emerges from the shroud will mark the fulfillment of a dream the Department of Defense has been pursuing for nearly 50 years: the orbital flight of a military vehicle that combines an airplane's agility with a spacecraft's capacity to travel in orbit at 5 miles per second.

At the end of its maiden trip, which could last days or even weeks, the X-37B will glide to Earth under robotic control without the benefit of engines. Instead, it will rely on flight-control surfaces in the tail to steer it through a fiery re-entry, during which the nose and leading edges of the wings must resist 3000-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures. The flight will end in secrecy with a 230-mph touchdown on an isolated runway at an Air Force base in California, most likely Vandenberg. If all goes well, the X-37B will be the first unmanned space plane to complete an orbital mission.


Much, much more at this link: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/nasa/behind-the-air-forces-secret-robotic-space-plane

The shuttle wasn't grounded. It just completely morphed into a different form and function. I wonder how the first flight will go?

[Obamanaut]

1. That seems to be a lot of information for a secret. nt

[KittyWampus]

17. You made me really LOL!

Funny and true.

[hack89]

20. Since it can be easily tracked in orbit

it can't be kept secret. Besides, a little publicity would come in handy during the budget wars.

[FarCenter]

2. So even the Air Force no longer believes in manned space flight

Human beings are just too limiting. Can't stand heat or high g-forces, can't do navigational calculations, have to sleep, have to go to the bathroom, ...

[old mark]

3. Humans wil probably be displaced from many combat functions.

The Navy and the AF have developed robotic aircraft that are launched from carriers or ground bases, can be used for recon but also have hard points to mount weapons. The Army and USMC are developing robot self directed recon vehicles that can stay in the field for months with NO human input, sending information back to a collection center.
These things LEARN from experience, can sit dormant when not needed, and can also carry weapons. They are nearly independent of humans for long periods when they are deployed.

Seen the Terminator recently?


mark

[arcadian]

5. So easily defeated

Providing false data for a machine reliant on sensors is really easy. For a drone all you have to do is inundate it with signal that tells it it's flying at 50 feet instead 1500 ft and then you sit back watch it crash and go boom.

[sudopod]

8. Oh, and how do you do that? nt

[arcadian]

9. It's not hard.

It's a system, somebody out there can hack it.

[sudopod]

10. lol, real life isn't like that awful Swordfish movie.

You can't just fire up a flashy program and autopwn a piece of military hardware unless the designers did something really dumb. If it were that easy, it would already be happening to our drones, after all.

[arcadian]

12. Umm, people have already hacked these things.

And intercepted their video feed with parts you can purchase at a Radio Shack. I beat you could really mess on up by simply pointing a laser pointer at it's sensors.

[sudopod]

14. Intercepting an unencrypted video feed isn't that hard.

You don't think that SOMEONE who doesn't like us would be doing that if it were that easy?

[Ikonoklast]

13. Then why aren't any surveillance satellites so easily compromised?

They operate is a similar fashion.

As do the GPS so important to defense positioning.

There are billions spent on hardening military systems from external electronic warfare. It isn't as easy as you make it out to be.

[arcadian]

15. There isn't a human component with the satellite systems

The drones are flown by people in little rooms miles away from the the drone.

[Ikonoklast]

16. Those satellites are directed from operators on earth.

Some surveillance satellites are maneuverable, and monitored in real-time. The NRO has rooms full of people employed to do so.

Why haven't they been commandeered by some smart Latvian kid with a laptop and an uplink?

Because they can't be.

[arcadian]

19. Bullshit.

Those systems are created by humans. Human error is built in to the system. Somebody could find the uplink and blow it up.

[old mark]

11. Israel uses a tiny remote operated flying recon unit, like a very

powerful model airplane - It is about a meter long and about 2 meter wingspan, maybe not even that - you can even launch it by hand. It's controlled by a joystick and has a viewing screen like a laptop. Very good for "patrolling" dangerous ground - It has an electric motor and files high enough you never know it is there till the artillery shells come in on your head. Probably costs a few thousand dollars for the whole thing, works great over relatively short distances.


Here's an interesting Wiki article on many different types of drone and unmanned combat aircraft - fwiw, they have already made atlantic ocean crossings, and one of the new ones cay fly-with airborne refuelings- continuously "on patrol" for 5 years....


mark

[Johonny]

6. they gave up on it years ago

After the Shuttle showed that it could never meet the nations launch needs. That's why EELV is almost all Air Force launched.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

4. The Buran flew an unmanned orbital flight years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_program

[sudopod]

7. It's easy when you have a 700 billion dollar budger. :p nt

[Motown_Johnny]

18. So why can't we develop a manned version to replace the shuttle?

I'm confused (again) !