Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: X-37B Space Plane to Land in California Tuesday

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 13, 2014 12:48:47 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: X-37B Space Plane to Land in California Tuesday

PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY FOR X-37B LANDING

Updated 10/10/2014

Release Number: 031014

10/10/2014 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Preparations for the third landing of the X-37B, the Air Force's unmanned, reusable space plane, are underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The exact landing date and time will depend on technical and weather considerations.

"Team Vandenberg stands ready to implement safe landing operations for the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, the third time for this unique mission" said Col. Keith Baits, 30th Space Wing commander.

Space professionals from the 30th Space Wing will monitor the de-orbit and landing of the Air Force's X-37B, called the Orbital Test Vehicle mission 3 (OTV-3).

Since the third launch of the X-37B, Dec. 11, 2012, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Vandenberg crews have conducted extensive, periodic training in preparation for landing.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

The Official Website of Vandenberg Air Force Base

Secretive X-37B Military Space Plane Could Land in California Tuesday
By Tariq Malik, Managing Editor | October 12, 2014 08:44am ET

Technicians work on the the first X-37B space plane after a smooth landing on Dec.3, 2010 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The same X-37B spacecraft launched back into space on Dec. 11, 2012, and could land at Vandenberg on Tuesday (Oct. 14, 2014).
Credit: U.S. Air Force/Michael Stonecypher View full size image
The U.S. Air Force's mysterious X-37B space plane will return to Earth this week —possibly as early as Tuesday — after 22 months in orbit on a secret mission.
The robotic X-37B space plane, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, will land at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where Air Force officials are gearing up for its return. As of today (Oct. 12), the X-37B mini-shuttle has been in orbit since December 2012 and racked up a record-shattering 671 days in space.
"Team Vandenberg stands ready to implement safe landing operations for the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, the third time for this unique mission" said Col. Keith Baits, 30th Space Wing commander, in a statement on Friday (Oct. 10). [See photos from the X-37B mission]
What do you think the U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space planes are doing on their months-long mystery missions in orbit?
The X-37B landing could occur on Tuesday (Oct. 14), according to several press reports, including Reuters. The spacecraft is designed to fly itself autonomously during landings.
The Air Force has two X-37B space planes in its fleet and has been flying them on secret missions since 2010. But the exact purpose of those flights have been shrouded in secrecy. The mission in orbit now, called Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (OTV-3), launched on Dec. 11, 2012 aboard an Atlas 5 rocket.
As its name suggests, the OTV-3 mission is the third X-37B flight, but it uses the same space plane that launched on the program's first mission, OTV-1, in April 2010. That first flight lasted 225 days. The second X-37B space plane launched in March 2011 and returned to Earth in June 2012 after 469 days in orbit.
The current OTV-3 mission for the X-37B has left the endurance milestones of the earlier missions in the dust. All X-37B missions are overseen by the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, serves as mission control.
The U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane is a miniature space shuttle capable of long, classified missions in orbit. See how the X-37B space plane works in this Space.com infographic.
Credit: By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist
View full size image
X-37B space planes resemble miniature versions of NASA's space shuttles, just smaller, with two of the vehicles fitting inside the payload bay of a NASA shuttle. Each X-37B spacecraft is about 29 feet (8.8 meters) long and 9.5 feet (2.9 m). They have a wingspan of about 15 feet (4.6 m), and a small payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed.
Boeing's Phantom Works division built the X-37B mini-shuttles. The spacecraft are able to stay in orbit for months by using a solar array to generate power.
So far, all X-37B missions have landed in California at Vandenberg Air Force Base, but that may not always be the case.
Boeing is working to repurpose a retired NASA shuttle hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, near the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station used to launch all X-37B space missions to date. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force has been studying the possibility of using a NASA runway previously used by space shuttles for future X-37B landings.

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Secretive U.S. robotic mini-shuttle to end 22-month mission on Tuesday
CAPE CANAVERAL Florida Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:49am EDT

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying the U.S. military's X-37B experimental space plane lifts off from launch complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida December 11, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Scott Audette

(Reuters) - The U.S. military plans to land its secretive X-37B robotic space plane in California on Tuesday, ending a classified 22-month mission, officials said.
The exact time and date will depend on weather and technical factors, the Air Force said in a statement released on Friday. The X-37B space plane, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, blasted off for its second mission aboard an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 11, 2012.
The 29-foot-long (9-meter) robotic spaceship, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, is an experimental vehicle that first flew in April 2010. It returned after eight months. A second vehicle blasted off in March 2011 and stayed in orbit for 15 months.
The military has said the vehicles, built by Boeing, are designed to test technologies, though details of the missions are classified.
Last week, the Air Force and NASA finalized a lease agreement to relocate the X-37B program from California to Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The military is studying using the space shuttle's runway for landing, but said the X-37B currently in orbit will touch down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where the previous two missions also ended.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz; editing by Jason Neely)

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