The X-37B is winning nothing but praise from the aviation community but its missions are cloaked in secrecy. By all accounts its performing magnificently. So while our civilian space agency is floundering, our US Air Force is moving ahead and getting the job done.
A manned, larger version of the X-37 is a no brainer and the Air Force is supposedly heading that way.
Outstanding! Read the whole article here.
Interesting concept, although in comparison to the size of the shuttle you have to wonder how useful it would be for anything other than a taxi to ISS.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest it needs either a dual role for crew/cargo (ie make it bigger), the ability to rerole the mission bay (crew or cargo like a C130), or a sister program providing a cargo hauler in some form.
Without cargo capacity that crew is going nowhere, but with cargo capacity in some form, small crews could assemble platforms in orbit for movement onwards to wherever (Mars/Moon/Asteroids) with the crew arriving by X37C once the full vehicle is assembled in space.
i'm sorry that i didn't make it more clear. this isn't for civilian applications like exploration. this is purely military. going to the ISS would be out of the question. its shared with other nations. if we put up a military space station then that would be useful but i see it more for anti-sat work or spy missions.
ReplyDeleteThe X-37C would go to the ISS, Boeing is developing the X-37C as a commercial spacecraft.
Deletehttp://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/x-37b-cargo-transfer.jpg
I am not surprised the Air Force is thinking about scaling this craft up, though I am not sure I see the need in the near term. What missions will a manned spacecraft handle that an unmanned one couldn't? From readings in the past, it seems to me the next generation of military capabilities in space is going to be geared towards countering the first generation, basically messing with the other guys' satellites while defending ours. Maybe the 37B has shown that remote isn't good enough?
ReplyDeleteAdding sensors onto other people's sats?
ReplyDeleteI can't see a "robot" couldnt do the work of six AF officers on the back of a unmanned space craft. I mean they could just as easily keep a x37b up there lurking with a robot with arms ready to "repair" any satallite that needed a hands on deal.
ReplyDeleteBesides taxing AirWingers to a space station I don't see it as awesome unless the passenger compartment is removable and we have a larger unmanned shuttle to send up some of those airborne lasers or rail guns.
Ah Sol my bad, but like other posters I can't really see a need for a 6 man crew in space for any military application right now, seems about as useful as that idea to drop a squad of marines anywhere from space (what use is 1 freaking squad going to do? SOCOM might have marginal uses but space dropping aint exactly stealthy!).
ReplyDeleteA larger unmanned craft that can jettison a few precision munitions (fairly small, once you're in space you dont need a whole lot of propulsion, or explosive to get to and destroy a satellite) would be of much greater use for ASAT work, rather than trying to do it from Earth with an SM3.
well if you're going to inspect, modify, alter or selectively damage enemy sats then an astronaut might be needed.
ReplyDeletehow great would it be to degrade Chinese sats without them understanding the cause? that could potentially cost them millions of dollars. how about plugging into them and having them sharing whatever intelligence is gathered with us the supposed object of the spying. and i'm sure they have plans for tons of other things that we can't even imagine that would need a pilot up there.
It was in US News from awhile ago, I believe. The article was about future military capabilities in space. The article talked about microsats used for different purposes. Examples included space mines that could blow up near an enemy satellite or zap enemy satellites with an EMP; parasites that attach to enemy satellites to disable them, tamper with them or just blow their view; and bodyguards that protect our satellites from the same threats.
ReplyDeleteI am very pro military. Russia and China and North Korea and a few others are NOT OUR FRIENDS, PERIOD!
ReplyDeleteIts Time for the Pentagon to Build 4 of the X-37C. Two would be in SPACE at the Same Time. Its Mission would be to Gather Global Intelligence Any Way it Can, Using the Latest Technologies that we have on the Shelf. These Craft would be Unmanned and would Stay up to 600 Days in Space Collecting all Sorts of Information in Low Earth Orbit.
This would be a GREAT Asset to the USAF and to the US NAVY. Its Mission is to Collect Data Any Way it can, and Do the Best Job doing it in Low Earth Orbit. These X-37C could be lifted by an Atlas 5 or a Delta 4 or by SpaceX Heavy. We Need this X-37C NOW, and not 10 years from Now! The Pentagon should Fund it and Yes the X-37C would be Designed for 135 Missions. Yes they would be Upgradable when the Need is Required!
Lets Get this Baby Built or I FEEL We are going to have Another 9-11 Attack on OUR HANDS. I DO NOT WANT THAT to HAPPEN AGAIN. It is MUCH BETTER to BE SAFE THAN SORRY!!! Build this X-37C RIGHT NOW!!!
WE as a Country HAVE GOT TO STOP PLAYING GAMES With OUR ADVERSARIES!!!!.
CHINA and RUSSIA and North Korea, and IRAN would LOVE TO DESTROY the USA and that is NO JOKE!! WAKE UP AMERICA!!