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Spacewatch: US military spaceplane poised for liftoff

JacksinPA

JacksinPA

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Spacewatch: US military spaceplane poised for liftoff | Science | The Guardian

Boeing X-37B to study impact of radiation and other space effects on seeds and other materials

The US’s uncrewed X-37B military spaceplane is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral air force station, in Florida, on 16 May.

The Boeing craft will be carried into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. This will be its sixth launch, and the first to be the responsibility of the newly-created US Space Force. For the first time, the X-37B will be fitted with a service module that will increase the amount of experiments it can carry.

The module will augment the spacecraft’s cargo bay. Alongside classified work, the mission will perform two Nasa experiments to study the results of radiation and other space effects on various materials and plant seeds, and a US naval research laboratory experiment to transform solar energy into radio waves, which can then be transmitted to the ground.
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'Classified' stuff in space usually means surveillance systems.
 
JacksinPA said:
Spacewatch: US military spaceplane poised for liftoff | Science | The Guardian

Boeing X-37B to study impact of radiation and other space effects on seeds and other materials

The US’s uncrewed X-37B military spaceplane is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral air force station, in Florida, on 16 May.

The Boeing craft will be carried into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. This will be its sixth launch, and the first to be the responsibility of the newly-created US Space Force. For the first time, the X-37B will be fitted with a service module that will increase the amount of experiments it can carry.

The module will augment the spacecraft’s cargo bay. Alongside classified work, the mission will perform two Nasa experiments to study the results of radiation and other space effects on various materials and plant seeds, and a US naval research laboratory experiment to transform solar energy into radio waves, which can then be transmitted to the ground.
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'Classified' stuff in space usually means surveillance systems.
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Too small. It's cargo capacity is only about the size of a pick up truck bed it is believed. Some speculate what it is really primarily doing is materials research---fill it with different materials and expose it to space for extended periods of time to determine their durability.
 
Drawdown said:
Too small. It's cargo capacity is only about the size of a pick up truck bed it is believed. Some speculate what it is really primarily doing is materials research---fill it with different materials and expose it to space for extended periods of time to determine their durability.
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Maybe theyre sending up a team of space monkeys with lasers lol
 
PoS said:
Maybe theyre sending up a team of space monkeys with lasers lol
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I had always assumed it was hauling satellites but then spent a couple days deep diving the internet for everything I could find out about it. At this point, I can only assume it is laying the foundation still for what will eventually be permanent space based weapons but we are still a long way away.
 
Drawdown said:
I had always assumed it was hauling satellites but then spent a couple days deep diving the internet for everything I could find out about it. At this point, I can only assume it is laying the foundation still for what will eventually be permanent space based weapons but we are still a long way away.
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The real war in space will be between satellites so I would hope that is what they are testing. Ways to protect our satellites from attack.
 
iguanaman said:
The real war in space will be between satellites so I would hope that is what they are testing. Ways to protect our satellites from attack.
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It isn't big enough to haul a satellite into space. There really isn't a lot we can do so far as I can tell to protect them from surface launch missiles that do the same thing as our anti-missile missiles-- Shoot a **** load of ball bearings into the paths of targets
 
iguanaman said:
The real war in space will be between satellites so I would hope that is what they are testing. Ways to protect our satellites from attack.
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The Russians & Chinese satellites are just as vulnerable as ours are.
 
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