A year in space with unknown goal

[magnemoe]

4 hours ago, Nibb31 said:

Because what? You're not making any sense.

If the X-37B is for studying materials, then it could potentially be any material that has a military application. However, there is no need to put nuclear warheads in orbit because other methods of prepositioning them are safer, cheaper, and allow faster delivery.

Even if this was a plan, you would only be testing exposure of the confinement vessel or shielding in space. There would be no need to test the exposure of fissile material.

Because research on the ISS is public and open to international scrutiny, whereas X-37B is a USAF program. Any top secret material that you want to study on the ISS has to be manifested and can be observed by the international partners.

This, ISS is an good place to test materials however its public and before the dragon pod you had to bring it back by Russia, 
Using the x37 they can test stuff in secret, for spying on stuff in orbit an miniature satellite would be better. 

[razark]

It might be worth something to see it's ground track, what maneuvers it has performed, and a timeline of when it performed them.

[insert_name]

why would the USAF use an X37 for surveilence when they can use a dedicated recon sat, it makes absolutely no sense, most likely materials testing and/or microgravity experiments

[cicatrix]

44 minutes ago, insert_name said:

why would the USAF use an X37 for surveilence when they can use a dedicated recon sat, it makes absolutely no sense, most likely materials testing and/or microgravity experiments

Because we usually assume the worst. Especially if we talk about governments.

[insert_name]

2 minutes ago, cicatrix said:

Because we usually assume the worst. Especially if we talk about governments.

first, the military is not the scheming villain comic books and conspiracy theorists make them out to be. second if they were some sort of conspiracy, and able to cover up a conspiracy of that magnitude, I doubt they would be dumb enough to convert a reusable testing bed into a spy satilite or orbital bombardment platform. while they may be testing sensors for recon sats I doubt they would be doing any spying as they would want to take data on something they know a lot about.

[kunok]

What about keeping the spacecraft tech up to day (that they already have)? And as an extra, that the enemy wastes resources in something similar is still an option?

[DDE]

On ‎20‎.‎05‎.‎2016 at 0:32 PM, J.Random said:

LOL.

Russian military launch contains unmanifested payload which is able to change its orbit a bit? "OMG IT'S A SAT KILLER WE'RE ALL DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!!"

USAF launches a top-secret mission with unknown payload, and after it lands, maintenance guys wear hazmat suits? "Nah, it's just a material science, nothing to see here, people, move along."

Hazmat suits are standard for any spacecraft equipped with hypergolic maneuvering thrusters, i.e. practically all of them. That stuff is toxic.

Oh, and speaking about unmanifested Russian payloads, there is a scientific satellite equipped with a high-powered gravity torsion field drive; supposed to propel it all the way out of the solar system.

It's a box with an electric motor, a newer version of the old Dean drive. Added without authorization, might I add.

Don't be scared by bizarre payloads.

...As to the subject at hand, it's clearly not intended as a fast-reaction spysat. That niche is covered by the new Centaur upper stage with 27 (!) slots for auxiliary payloads.

[Nibb31]

1 hour ago, DDE said:

Oh, and speaking about unmanifested Russian payloads, there is a scientific satellite equipped with a high-powered gravity torsion field drive; supposed to propel it all the way out of the solar system.

It's a box with an electric motor, a newer version of the old Dean drive. Added without authorization, might I add.

[Reference needed]

Edited June 5, 2016 by Nibb31

[DDE]

27 minutes ago, Nibb31 said:

[Reference needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yubileiny , for starters. Very little material has ever been translated.

Torsion fields are just one fairly resilient bunch of pseudoscience that bred on the "open-mindedness" of late Soviet science, and was then thrust onto the general populace, and the rest of the world, in the 90s. The official position of Academy of Sciences' unofficial Committee on Combatting Pseudoscience is that Russia is the world's leader in export of utter bunk underneath the veneer of Soviet Superscience.

Edited June 5, 2016 by DDE