TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted March 18, 2017 Missione OTV-4 ... mancano pochi giorni al record ... The U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane is just eight days away from setting a record on its current clandestine mission. If the robotic vehicle stays aloft until March 25, it will break the X-37B mission-duration mark of 674 days, which was established back in October 2014. Fonte: SPACE.com ... Air Force's Mysterious X-37B Space Plane Nears Orbital Record ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted May 24, 2017 XS-1 ... il vincitore è ... Phantom Express di Boeing ... AFA ... DARPA Picks Boeing for XS-1 Spaceplane Project ... DARPA ... DARPA Picks Design for Next-Generation Spaceplane ... Boeing ... Boeing, DARPA to Design, Build, Test New Experimental Spaceplane ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted May 25, 2017 Nel frattempo ... la missione OTV-4 si era felicemente conclusa il 9 Maggio scorso ... The Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Sunday after nearly two years in low-earth orbit. The mission, which launched on May 21, 2015, was the fourth completed flight for the OTV program. Each successive mission has been longer in duration than the last - the first was 224 days, the second was 468, and the third was 675. OTV-4 remained in orbit for 718 days, during which time it flew at altitudes ranging between 190 and 225 miles, reported Space Flight Now. Fonte: AFA ... X-37B Lands at Kennedy Space Center After Two Years in Orbit ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted June 7, 2017 Colpo di scena ... il 'mini-shuttle' militare cambia cavallo ... The X-37B is heading back to space later this year, and this time the space plane will launch for the first time ever by a SpaceX Falcon 9, the Air Force announced late Tuesday. The fifth mission of the X-37B, sometimes referred to as the orbital test vehicle, involves carrying the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader (ASETS-11) created by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the service stated in a news release. Fonte: DefenseNews ... X-37B space plane to get lift from SpaceX ... Reuters ... SpaceX wins launch of U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted September 1, 2017 Pronto ad una nuova, misteriosa missione ... sul nuovo vettore ... The U.S. Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane will make its debut launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9 on Sept. 7, the Air Force’s top civilian said Thursday. “If the weather is good,” the Boeing-built X-37B will launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, announced U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who declined to comment on the nature of the mission the space plane will perform. “It’s one of our experimental platforms,” she said during an exclusive interview with Defense News and Air Force Times on Aug. 31. Fonte: DefenseNews ... U.S. Air Force announces date for X-37B launch ... USAF ... Air Force preparing to launch fifth Orbital Test Vehicle mission ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted May 1, 2018 La nuova missione è ormai in corso da quasi otto mesi ... https://www.space.com/40227-x-37b-space-plane-200-days-in-orbit-otv5.html ... e, dall'Olanda, giunge notizia che c'è anche chi riesce ad osservare la super-segreta navetta ... A skywatcher in the Netherlands was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to see the U.S. Air Force's supersecret X-37B space plane on April 11, or that's the likeliest identity of the bright moving spot in the sky anyway. The launch itself wasn't a secret: The robotic craft, made by Boeing, took off on its fifth mission on Sept. 7, 2017, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida ... Cees Bassa didn't know at first that he'd spotted the spy craft, which looks like a mini space shuttle when seen up close. But he was intrigued enough to estimate that the object's circular orbit was inclined by about 54.5 degrees and had an altitude of 220 miles (355 kilometers) above Earth. With those estimates, he realized the flying object could be the fifth mission of the X-37B, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5 for the fifth mission) ... Fonte: livescience.com ... How a Guy in the Netherlands Spotted the Top Secret X-37B Space Plane ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted June 17, 2018 Si fanno progressi col motore del 'Phantom Express' di Boeing ... http://www.rocket.com/article/first-engine-assembled-darpa-and-boeing-reusable-experimental-spaceplane La pagina che Boeing dedica al programma ... https://www.boeing.com/space/phantom-express/index.page Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted February 1 E' appena uscito un aggiornamento sulla missione OTV-5 ... ... space.com ... US Military Space Plane Wings Past 500 Days on Latest Mystery Mission ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted July 14 (edited) Beccato ! Quote Noted astronomer and satellite expert Ralf Vandebergh of Nijswiller, Limburg, Netherlands, spent months searching the skies for one of the Holy Grails of sky spotting, the secretive U.S. Air Force Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. In May of this year, he finally succeeded. Remarkably, on June 30 and July 2 of this year that Vandebergh finally captured some rare photos of the secret military spacecraft. Fifty-year veteran space journalist and author of the new book, “Moon Rush: The New Space Race”, Leonard David broke the story about Vandebergh’s sighting and photos on Saturday, July 6, 2019 on LiveScience.com (*). The photos are now being republished and shared around the world. ... theaviationist.com ... New Photos Surface of Secretive X-37B Space Plane in Orbit on Classified Mission ... (*) ... https://www.livescience.com/65884-x-37b-space-plane-skywatcher-photo.html ... Edited July 14 by TT-1 Pinto *** Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted August 14 C'era una volta ... lo X-20 'Dyna Soar' ... quel precursore che non volò mai ... ... afmc.af.mil ... https://www.afmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1925643/history-in-two-dyna-soar/ ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted September 4 Intanto ... lo X-37B ha battuto un altro record ... il tutto, va da sé, nel massimo segreto ... Quote The U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane just broke its spaceflight-duration record. At 6:43 a.m. EDT (1043 GMT) today (Aug. 26), the robotic X-37B sailed past the program mark of 717 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes, which was set by the previous mission, known as Orbital Test Vehicle 4 (OTV-4). The current mission, OTV-5, began on Sept. 7, 2017, with a liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It's unclear what the space plane is doing up there now, or what it has done on past flights; X-37B missions are classified, and the Air Force therefore tends to speak of the vehicle and its activities in general terms. ... space.com ... X-37B Military Space Plane Breaks Record on Latest Mystery Mission ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted September 21 741 days and counting ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted October 27 E' ritornato ... dopo 780 giorni ... ...af.mil ... https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1999734/x-37b-breaks-record-lands-after-780-days-in-orbit/ ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TT-1 Pinto 742 Report post Posted October 28 Un commento ... nel quale si fa cenno dei possibili sviluppi futuri del veicolo spaziale ... ... airforcemag.com ... X-37B Space Plane Returns as USAF Collects Data for Possible Replacement ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites