X-37B

[mikegarrison]

7 hours ago, Ziggy Kerman said:

X-37B- The irl, "exposed materials to space and recorded the results"

I wouldn't be surprised if they have a canister of mystery goo stashed away in their hold.

[DDE]

On 3/13/2021 at 11:35 PM, Ziggy Kerman said:

X-37B- The irl, "exposed materials to space and recorded the results"

It's about the right hull diameter, too.

[mikegarrison]

We are nearing 1 year for the current X-37B mission. Probably only about another year and a half to go....

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Earlier, people speculated about space piracy / privateering / prize taking with this - and then speculated about how easy it is to prevent your spysat from getting snatched. 

 

Wouldn't it be easier to just pull up next to the offending spysat and just pop a can of glitter? 

[tater]

1 hour ago, mikegarrison said:

We are nearing 1 year for the current X-37B mission. Probably only about another year and a half to go....

X-37B is pretty amazing... I was really surprised when they pulled out of that DARPA project to make that other spaceplane (name escapes me).

 

[kerbiloid]

4 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Earlier, people speculated about space piracy / privateering / prize taking with this - and then speculated about how easy it is to prevent your spysat from getting snatched. 

They should just negotiate and rent each other's spysat.

3 hours ago, tater said:

X-37B is pretty amazing... I was really surprised when they pulled out of that DARPA project to make that other spaceplane (name escapes me).

The success stolen from DynaSoar.

[tater]

Just now, kerbiloid said:

The success stolen from DynaSoar.

Dream Chaser, too. It was a good idea then, it's a good idea now.

[kerbiloid]

4 minutes ago, tater said:

Dream Chaser, too.

Dream Chaser is not actually a success to the date. It's a success embryo.

[tater]

24 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

Dream Chaser is not actually a success to the date. It's a success embryo.

That is true.

ObX-37B content (for awesomeness):

 

[DDE]

5 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Wouldn't it be easier to just pull up next to the offending spysat and just pop a can of glitter? 

It's considered a legitimate strategy. There are better materials than glitter, though, like Vual'.

https://thespacereview.com/article/3536/1

[kerbiloid]

7 minutes ago, DDE said:

It's considered a legitimate strategy. There are better materials than glitter, though, like Vual'.

https://thespacereview.com/article/3536/1

In Soviet Russia even city buses were equipped with cloaking devices,

Spoiler

***

Let all spysat owners just add a common layer in Google Earth and save each other's money by providing it with pix.

Edited May 6, 2021 by kerbiloid

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

8 hours ago, DDE said:

It's considered a legitimate strategy. There are better materials than glitter, though, like Vual'.

https://thespacereview.com/article/3536/1

Heh - I love how whenever I come up with a brilliant idea some engineer already made it (and even a better version) decades prior. 

Thanks for the read! 

[kerbiloid]

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=https://www.rbc.ru/technology_and_media/22/05/2021/60a93f219a7947f0262cf81c

During the "New Knowledge" forum, the CEO of the main Russian AA-missiles manufacturer "Almaz-Antey" stated that X-37 can be a nuclear weapon carrier.

He said, that there are already six of them (37s), some of them bigger, some of them smaller.

He said, that while officially they are made for scientific and spy purposes, but Russia understands that their capacity allows them to carry from 3 (for the smaller one) to 6 (for the bigger one) warheads.

He said, that by 2025 US are planning to put into orbit two more such crafts, and this is of course a serious challenge.

[SOXBLOX]

LOL, whatever. Like the X-37 can do inclination changes at will to hit [insert random Russian city here]. Has that guy even played KSP? 

[kerbiloid]

19 minutes ago, SOXBLOX said:

LOL, whatever. Like the X-37 can do inclination changes at will to hit [insert random Russian city here]. Has that guy even played KSP? 

"Almaz-Antey"'s S-500 is officially and anti-sat missile, too.

[Scotius]

*eyeroll* Every satellite in orbit can be a potential nuke carrier. Every crewed spacecraft too.

Someone is fearmongering hard.

[DDE]

8 minutes ago, Scotius said:

*eyeroll* Every satellite in orbit can be a potential nuke carrier. Every crewed spacecraft too.

Someone is fearmongering hard.

 

1 hour ago, SOXBLOX said:

LOL, whatever. Like the X-37 can do inclination changes at will to hit [insert random Russian city here]. Has that guy even played KSP? 

One word: Vandenberg. Also, from what I've heard the Shuttle could use its wings for aerodynamic plane change maneuvers.

Anyway, the people behind the study that justified Buran never recanted their opinion that the Shuttle was a bomber.

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3855/1

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3873/1

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3876/1

This contributes to certain... "alternative facts" circulating in the Russian defence community.

Edited May 23, 2021 by DDE

[kerbiloid]

While X-37 is obviously a carrier of some equipment to be exposed for long time in the space conditions.

Unlikely material samples, as too much efforts for just another set of plates.

Definitely not a bomber, as why keep it in orbit and have just two of them.

Unlikely a spy, as too puny, compared to real spysats.

Still thinking, it exposes some deactivated nukes to see how they feel in real space for years.
Though, maybe something electronic and emitting.

A spaceplane - to secretly and safely return it.

Its maneuvering capability is to cowardly take evasive actions, when a peaceful, civil, scientific Russian sputnik, equipped with geigers and magnetometers, is suddenly going to pass by at close distance with absolutely no intention to inspect its emission spectre.

[SOXBLOX]

6 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Its maneuvering capability is to cowardly take evasive actions, when a peaceful, civil, scientific Russian sputnik, equipped with geigers and magnetometers, is suddenly going to pass by at close distance with absolutely no intention to inspect its emission spectre.

I'll petition the government to send up a space-adapted Phalanx CIWS next launch! 

6 hours ago, DDE said:

Also, from what I've heard the Shuttle could use its wings for aerodynamic plane change maneuvers.

IDK how it would do this. It would have to enter the atmosphere, and then return to orbit. I think...

Edited May 23, 2021 by SOXBLOX

[DDE]

2 hours ago, SOXBLOX said:

IDK how it would do this. It would have to enter the atmosphere, and then return to orbit. I think...

Well, not if it's attempting a single-orbit mission, which is very likely under wartime conditions.

But since low orbit is in the exosphere, some (admittedly low-quality) slurces mentioned appreciable inclination effects from the Shuttle's wings even up there.

2 hours ago, SOXBLOX said:

I'll petition the government to send up a space-adapted Phalanx CIWS next launch! 

Of course, all of you are missing the bigger picture. Do you remember what the previous CEO of Almaz-Antei is at?

https://asgardia.space/en/

[DDE]

Relevant to our discussion.

X-37B is labelled as "Low-orbit and inter-media spacecraft".

[kerbiloid]

IS is, isn't it?

Spoiler

 

[DDE]

18 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

IS is, isn't it?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The arc of history is long, but inevitably it bends towards Wh40k.

Spoiler

 

[DDE]

On 5/23/2021 at 10:15 AM, Scotius said:

*eyeroll* Every satellite in orbit can be a potential nuke carrier. Every crewed spacecraft too.

Someone is fearmongering hard.

You know you dun goofed when even RT starts dunking on your scaremongering.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/525493-us-space-nukes-boeing/

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

Of course, its not reliable, and that's not exactly why the world military requires a 2 000 km crosswind maneuver from any spaceplane-looking thing, and not why HTV-2 performed a 2 000 km long hypersonic trip with S-maneuver.

Spoiler

 

Though, exactly X-37B of course unlikely could be a bomber/missile, due to its too aristocratic design.

***

Both USSRussia and Americanada/Canamerica are ~ 5 000 km wide. China as well.

So, a 2 000 km crosswind aerodynamic maneuver on aerobraking means that a deorbited glider can reach most part of them without a need to pass exactly above.
Obviously, its accuracy is much higher than accuracy of a bomb dropped from orbit.

So, the modern hypersonic trend is also exactly about this, too.

But it's a question of 10..20 year perspective, when X-37B will be a relict derelict.

Edited June 4, 2021 by kerbiloid