Launch News X-37B on Atlas V from Cape Canaveral

[Orbinaut Pete]

Could be a reflection off the solar panel or the radiator.

Or the top-secret nuclear-fusion powered super-reacting hyper-generating warp-drive! Oops, I've said too much! :lol:

 

[Andy44]

Might be on-topical here:

KZLA LOS ANGELES (ARTCC) PALMDALE, CA.:

05/110 - AIRSPACE UNMANNED ACFT 5 NM EITHER SIDE EDW134013 TO
PMD071014 TO PMD070004 12000/BLW AVOIDANCE ADZD. 01 JUN 19:00 2010 UNTIL 01 JUN 21:30 2010. CREATED: 27 MAY 22:17 2010

Is the time UTC or PDT?

Is that a NOTAM? Do you have a link?

 

[SiberianTiger]

Is that a NOTAM? Do you have a link?

This is a NOTAM, but I don't have a link: I quoted it from another forum.

 

[DaveS]

This is a NOTAM, but I don't have a link: I quoted it from another forum.

I don't think that one has anything to do with the X-37B OTV-1 as that NOTAM is for Palmdale, CA. The prime runway for the X-37B is the one at Vandenberg AFB, CA with the main concrete runway at Edwards AFB, CA being the backup.

 

[IronRain]

is there a landing date? I couldn't find it

 

[DaveS]

is there a landing date? I couldn't find it

That's because this is a DoD mission which means it's classified. That includes any potential landing dates.

 

[IronRain]

That's because this is a DoD mission which means it's classified. That includes any potential landing dates.

Ok. I know it is classified, but I maybe they had released something...

 

[garyw]

Remember that EDW also flies tests of UAV's so this NOTAM is almost certainly related to that rather than the X-37B.

Of course, it might be a misdirection, everyone goes to see the UAV at EDW whilst the airforce sneaks her in to Vandenburg

I'm sure footage of the landing will be released a month or two after the event.

 

[DaveS]

Of course, it might be a misdirection, everyone goes to see the UAV at EDW whilst the airforce sneaks her in to Vandenburg

Just a nitpick: it's Vandenberg, with E not a U. The base is named after USAF Chief of Staff General Hoyt S. Vandenberg.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Part of the fairing from the Atlas V that launched the X-37B washed up on a beach in South Carolina and is now in a museum!

Fallen space rocket debris goes on display in South Carolina.

collectSPACE: "Coastal Discovery Museum: X-37B fairing".

 

[SiberianTiger]

A part of a still flying and active spacecraft is now a museum exhibit? Hope it lands OK, or it kind of spoils the glean.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

SPACE.com: "Secret X-37B Space Plane Has Changed Orbit".

Just what are they doing up there...? :huh:

I'm surprised someone hasn't suggested the old "rendezvousing with aliens" story! :lol:

 

[Urwumpe]

New orbit ground track repeats every six days, instead of every four day as before.

 

[IronRain]

When the craft lands, will the US air force tell it to the public + a live webcast or something? Or are they going to keep that as a secret as well?

 

[Urwumpe]

When the craft lands, will the US air force tell it to the public + a live webcast or something? Or are they going to keep that as a secret as well?

It will only be announced and celebrated when they managed to find Osama Bin Laden with it.

 

[n122vu]

It will only be announced and celebrated when they managed to find Osama Bin Laden with it.

Along with Jimmy Hoffa and the contents of Al Capone's vault. All covered by none other than Fox News' Giraldo Rivera:rofl:

 

[ddom2006]

When the craft lands, will the US air force tell it to the public + a live webcast or something? Or are they going to keep that as a secret as well?

It's quite difficult to keep a re-entry and landing completly secret, so they may well cut their losses and admit they've landed it when they do.

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.universetoday.com/75537/secret-x-37b-space-plane-disappears-again/

‘Secret’ X-37B Space Plane Disappears Again

The game between the United States Air Force and amateur satellite trackers continues: the unmanned X-37B space plane – a classified project of the Air Force – has changed orbit once again, leaving those that monitor the flyovers of the space plane scrambling to locate it once again.

The X-37B was launched on April 22nd, 2010 on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and has been orbiting the Earth ever since. During the period between July 29th and August 14th of this year, the plane changed its orbit and forced the amateurs that monitor the satellite to find it again, and recalculate its orbital path. According to Spaceweather.com yesterday, the X-37B has once again changed its location. It did not pass over at the expected time on the nights of October 7th and October 9th.

...

We’ll keep you posted as to when the X-37B is recovered by amateurs, if it has landed, or in the unlikely event that the Air Force decides to release any information about its current mission.

 

[SiberianTiger]

X-37b is still in orbit, found again by satellite observers:

http://satobs.org/seesat/Oct-2010/0120.html

Here are approximate elements:

X-37B OTV 1-1 376 X 393 km
1 36514U 10015A 10285.72915088 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 05
2 36514 39.9880 18.7856 0013000 209.0005 151.0088 15.62000000 00
Arc 20101012.78-1012.78 WRMS resid 0.167 totl 0.025 xtrk

The arc is a mere 17 s, so the mean motion is uncertain, by perhaps 0.02 rev/d, which results in prediction time uncertainty of about 2 min per day since epoch.

Based on the above elements, the object must have passed just below my FOV, toward the end of my search this morning.

The manoeuvres lowered the orbit by about 54 km, and appear to have occurred on Oct 06, in the vicinity of 17 h UTC.

The ground track of the new orbit appears to nearly repeat every 46 revs, which takes three days (46:3). The initial orbit had been 61:4, and the one previous to the present one was roughly 91:6. Ground tracks that repeat every two, three or four days, are a common feature of U.S. IMINT satellite orbits.

Ted Molczan

 

[Wishbone]

Molczan rocks (the whole seesat community is really amazing!)