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Autorizzata la terza missione ....

.... il lancio è previsto per l' 11 Dicembre ....

 

Dal "Daily Report" dell' AFA di questa mattina ....

 

bhf5g7_th.jpg

 

Spaceplane Mission Gets Green Light ....

 

United Launch Alliance has cleared the next launch of an Air Force X-37B reusable spaceplane to occur this week at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., after concluding that it has sufficiently mitigated the chances of a booster anomaly repeating itself from a previous satellite launch.

 

A ULA Atlas V rocket is now scheduled to carry the X-37 orbital test vehicle into space on Dec 11, states the company's Dec. 7 release.

 

http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/News.shtml#/126

 

This mission, dubbed OTV-3, will be the third space flight of the two-vehicle X-37 fleet.

 

Back in early October, a ULA Delta IV rocket experienced an upper-stage engine malfunction during a GPS IIF satellite launch.

 

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/October%202012/October%2012%202012/InvestigationOrderedintoGPSIIFLaunchAnomaly.aspx

 

The Atlas V utilizes a different version of this same engine, but the Air Force and ULA delayed the X-37 launch until they understood better what happened.

 

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/November%202012/November%2005%202012/X-37BLaunchDelayed,Again.aspx

 

ULA's investigation of the Delta IV anomaly "concluded that a fuel leak occurred" and that the leak "started during the first engine start sequence," states the release.

 

While the anomaly investigation continues, "all credible crossover implications" for the Atlas V "have been thoroughly addressed and mitigated," clearing the way for the OTV-3 launch, states the release.

 

107qhp1.jpg

"Here, one of the Air Force's two X-37 vehicles shown after landing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on June 16, 2012, after spending 469 days on orbit conducting experiments."

Boeing photo by Paul Pinner

 

Ovviamente .... nessuna informazione è stata sinora rilasciata sulle finalità e sull'eventuale durata del volo ....

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La terza missione dello X-37B ha avuto inizio ....

 

Lo annuncia il "Daily Report" dell'AFA di questa mattina ....

 

bhf5g7_th.jpg

 

Air Force Launches X-37 into Space ....

 

 

The Air Force and its industry partners on Tuesday launched an experimental X-37B orbital test vehicle into space aboard an Atlas V rocket fired from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla.

 

This is the third mission of an X-37 reusable spaceplane and the second flight of the first X-37 in the two-vehicle fleet.

 

"We couldn't be more pleased with the strides we've made in this program," said Richard McKinney, the Air Force's deputy undersecretary for space programs, in the service's Dec. 11 release.

 

http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=6416

 

He added, "However, it is important to keep in mind that this is an experimental vehicle, and a third mission is still relatively young for a test program."

 

The first X-37 vehicle spent 224 days on orbit after its inaugural launch in April 2010.

 

After its return, the vehicle underwent refurbishment for its return to space.

 

"We are excited to see how this vehicle performs on a second flight," said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, X-37B program manager.

 

He said the length of the vehicle's stay on orbit will depend on factors like executing the test objectives and the vehicle's performance.

 

The second X-37 vehicle spent 469 days in space on its maiden mission, returning to Earth in June.

 

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/June%202012/June%2018%202012/X-37BReturnstoEarth.aspx

 

Washington, D.C., report by Maj. Eric Badger .... http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123329533

 

See also ....

 

Boeing release .... http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2523

 

.... and "Spaceplane Mission Gets Green Light" .... http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/December%202012/December%2010%202012/SpaceplaneMissionGetsGreenLight.aspx

 

2v1qkw4.jpg

" Here, the Atlas V lifts off with the X-37 from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex-41."

United Launch Alliance photo

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Buono, questa volta, il funzionamento del motore RL10 ....

 

RL10 Engine Performs As Expected In X-37B Launch ....

 

The powered portion of flight for an Atlas V boosting the third U.S. Air Force X-37B Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) has successfully completed, according to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne officials.

 

.... The RL10 malfunctioned during the last U.S. Air Force launch in October owing to a fuel leak.

Fonte .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_12_12_2012_p05-01-527201.xml

 

 

Il comunicato di "Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne" ....

 

http://www.pw.utc.com/Press/Story/20121211-1400/0007/All%20Categories

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  • 1 mese dopo...

Nonostante il felice esito del lancio dello X-37 .... l'indagine tecnica non è ancora riuscita a chiarire le cause del malfunzionamento di una diversa versione del motore RL10 utilizzata su un vettore "Delta IV (4,2)" in occasione di una precedente missione che prevedeva la messa in orbita, l' 8 Ottobre scorso, di un satellite per la navigazione ....

 

Root Cause Still Eludes USAF on RL10 Anomaly ....

 

Fonte .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post:57b2af60-beea-41ba-8c83-1c3fc37e152d

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La persistenza delle preoccupazioni circa l'affidabilità del motore RL10 crea problemi anche ad altri programmi ....

 

WGS Launch Slips As RL10 Worries Persist ....

 

Fonte .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_01_17_2013_p04-01-537643.xml

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  • 1 mese dopo...
  • 6 mesi dopo...

La terza missione dello X-37B (iniziata l' 11 Dicembre dello scorso anno) .... http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/December%202012/December%2012%202012/AirForceLaunchesX-37intoSpace.aspx .... ha ormai superato i nove mesi di durata e non si hanno tuttora notizie sulla sua data di conclusione ....

 

Siamo comunque ancora ben lontani dai 469 giorni di permanenza in orbita della seconda missione .... :woot:

 

 

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Mentre lo X-37B prosegue la sua solitaria e misteriosa missione nello spazio .... l'agenzia di ricerca e sviluppo militare DARPA si accinge a lanciare un nuovo progetto di "spazioplano" ....

 

30kq2jm.jpg

 

Darpa Revives Larger Reusable Booster Spaceplane ....

 

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) plans to seek industry interest next month in an Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) which will be capable of delivering a payload up to 5,000 lb. to space for less than $5 million per launch.

The XS-1 is targeted at flying at Mach 10 plus and generating a sortie rate of up to 10 times over 10 days.

The program compliments the agency’s ongoing Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (Alasa) program, which is developing an air launch system for small satellites, and appears to be a partial revival of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s abandoned Reusable Booster System (RBS) Pathfinder.

 

Fonte .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_09_19_2013_p0-618115.xml

 

DARPA .... "Experimental Spaceplane Shooting for “Aircraft-Like” Operations in Orbit" .... http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/09/17.aspx

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  • 2 mesi dopo...

XS-1 .... l'agenzia DARPA guarda all'industria ....

 

Darpa Targets Spaceplane Technology At Launch Industry ....

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (Darpa) goal with its new Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program is to demonstrate a reusable capability that can transition to industry for low-cost military and commercial satellite launches and hypersonic technology testing.
The agency usually hands off successful programs to one of the U.S. military services, but “Darpa’s XS-1 transition partner is you — industry,” Program Manager Jess Sponable told attendees at a proposers’ day briefing earlier this month.
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  • 3 settimane dopo...
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E tornato alla base dopo circa 2 anni.

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-14/x-37b-super-secret-spaceship-comes-back-to-earth-after-two-years

 

A mio avviso questo mezzo dispone di sensori per la ricognizione hyperspetral che vengono aggiornate con nuovi capacita di elaborazione

cosi come avviene con i software dei computer.

 

Ogni 18-24 mesi si ottengono prestazioni sempre piu elevate, l' X37 torna a terra e l'hardware/software della suite sensoristica viene aggiornata.

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E' tornato alla base dopo circa 2 anni.

 

E quando ?

 

Questo sito lo considera tuttora in orbita ..... http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=39025&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT

 

..... e quello della Vandenberg AFB non ha, al momento, notizie aggiornate ..... http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/mediacenter/index.asp

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