US Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, May 7, 2017. US Air Force
Popular Mechanics: Here's How the X-37B Spaceplane 'Disappears'
The winged spacecraft can alter its orbit to confound adversaries.
Former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson revealed to an audience last week that the X-37B spaceplane can pull off maneuvers in space that drives potential adversaries “nuts.” Although maddeningly unspecific, experts believe she was referring to the X-37B’s ability to change its orbit, throwing off both amateur and professional satellite watchers and making the spacecraft unpredictable.
According to Military.com, Wilson was speaking at the Apsen Security Forum when she remarked that the X-37B "can do an orbit that looks like an egg and, when it's close to the Earth, it's close enough to the atmosphere to turn where it is."
"Which means our adversaries don't know—and that happens on the far side of the Earth from our adversaries—where it's going to come up next. And we know that that drives them nuts. And I'm really glad about that."
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Update: The Air Force's former top civilian explains how the mysterious X-37B spacecraft drives US foes 'nuts' (Military.com/Business Insider)
WNU Editor: It looks like the X-37B is going for a new record .... Is the US Air Force's Secretive X-37B Space Plane Headed for New Record? (Space.com).
Why is orbital maneuverability supposed to be such a big deal? Like wtf this is not 1950s
ReplyDeleteI think mainly just to piss off the Democrats.
ReplyDeleteIf you had read the article you would understand.
ReplyDeleteOnce an object is in orbit it takes a lot of energy to shift it's direction and so it's easy to predict and monitor everything your opponent has in space. This could be the first step towards deploying space-borne nuclear weapons. Just like with submarines, nobody leaves a bunch of nukes floating on frigates just off their opponents shores for years on end. However we do always roam each others' coasts with nuclear armed subs because they can't easily be tracked.
ReplyDelete