TripleDigitRide

FOXNews.com - Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Takes Off For Mystery Mission The United States Air Force's secretive X-37B robotic space plane blasted off from Florida late Thursday on a mystery mission shrouded in secrecy for the U.S. military. The unmanned military Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1) – also known as the X-37B – lifted off at 7:52 p.m. EDT (2352 GMT) atop an Atlas 5 rocket on a mission that is expected to take months testing new spacecraft technologies. The X-37B is a reusable robotic space plane built by Boeing Phantom Works. Its mission is being carried out under the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office with participation by NASA. Key objectives of the space plane's first flight include demonstration and validation of guidance, navigation and control systems – including a "do-it-itself" autonomous re-entry and landing at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base with neighboring Edwards Air Force Base as a backup. The X-37B is the first vehicle since NASA's space shuttles with the ability to return experiments to Earth for further inspection and analysis, Air Force officials said. "This is a new way for the Air Force to conduct on-orbit experiments," explained Gary Payton, Air Force deputy under secretary for space programs, during a Tuesday press teleconference. The designed maximum on-orbit duration for the X-37B is 270 days, Payton said. "In all honesty, we don't know when it's coming back for sure. It depends on the progress that we make with the on-orbit demonstrations," he added. Thursday's launch capped a long road to orbit for the X-37B spacecraft. NASA initially began the project in 1999 and later transferred it to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) in 2004 due to a lack of funding. The Air Force stepped in 2006 to take over the project. Tight-lipped affair Circling the Earth, the X-37B space plane has a full agenda of shaking out new technologies including advanced guidance, navigation and control. Once the vehicle's payload bay doors open to space, power is provided by a deployable array of gallium arsenide solar cells coupled with lithium-ion batteries. But after that action item is checked off, what else the X-37B will do becomes a tight-lipped affair. "Actual on-orbit activities we do classify...for the experimental payloads that are on-orbit with the X-37," Payton said. There's enough payload room, he added as example, to house a couple of small satellites in the range of a few hundred kilograms each. Given the X-37B's secretive duties, some analysts contend that the mission is provocative, perhaps fanning the flames for war in space. "Truthfully, I don't know how this could be called 'weaponization' of space," Payton said. "Fundamentally, it's an updated version of the space shuttle kind of activities in space," he added, a new vehicle that could potentially help the Air Force do its space missions better. Perhaps a key show and tell feature of the X-37B is its self-guided entry and landing in California. In the event the vehicle strays off course as it swoops down over the Pacific Ocean, the space plane is outfitted with a destruct mechanism. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 1 was built by Boeing in Seal Beach, Calif. It is about 29 feet (9 meters) long and has a wingspan of just over 14 feet (4 meters) across. It stands just over 9 1/2 feet (3 meters) tall and weighs nearly 11,000 pounds (about 5,000 kg). This SPACE.com X-37B graphic illustrates some details of the space plane and its relative size. The Air Force has already ordered a second X-37B, presumably the Orbital Test Vehicle 2, which is slated to launch in 2011. But that mission, and any new flights of this first vehicle, hinge on the performance during orbital and landing maneuvers, Air Force officials have said. Tale of the V-tail The X-37B carries two short vertical stabilizers in the back rather than one vertical as seen on the shuttle orbiter. There were several reasons for the V-tail 'ruddervators'...a high-tech wordsmithing of rudder and elevator, explained Angie Blair, an Air Force spokeswoman for the project. For one, the short V-tails provide better packaging within the 5 meter in diameter Atlas 5 fairing than a single, taller vertical stabilizer, she said. Secondly, the more forward wing location of the X-37B enables the V-tails to be very effective in the high angle of attack, hypersonic portion of the entry trajectory. That reduces the amount of reaction control system propellant needed for trim and control of the craft, Blair said. As the craft draws a bead on its landing locale, a speed brake will be employed. "A split ruddervators/speed brake like the space shuttle is not feasible in a small vehicle like the OTV," Blair noted. Aerodynamic testing and other studies, she said, led to the vehicle's upper center line speed brake and V-tail ruddervators as the best performing system solutions for the X-37B. Readiness for re-flight En route to the runway, new thermal protection systems will be evaluated. So too will be avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, as well as lightweight electromechanical flight systems. Even after touching down, the X-37B is to yield insight into fast turnaround, operation and maintenance. The craft does carry some vehicle health monitoring subsystems to speed its readiness for re-flight, Payton told SPACE.com. "If these technologies on the vehicle prove to be as good as we currently estimate, it will make our access to space more responsive, perhaps cheaper, and push us in the vector of being able to react to warfighter needs more quickly," Payton concluded.

Yeah, it's not looking good. If this weekend is a wash, plan for the following weekend (Saturday, May 1, 2010). I understand this will likely prevent some from making it, but I think it's the best option at this time. The year is still young, so hoefully we can make another attempt at a ride with more advance notice.

Yummy!

An indoor range that allows 50 cals?

I'd start with contacting Outdoor Junction in Cookeville. I'm not sure if they have a gunsmith on site, but I'm sure they could point you in the right direction.

You're correct. I hadn't read up on it too much as of late. I see that Adobe recently announced that the release date for a version of flash player for mobile devices has been pushed back again. Now we're looking at later this year. They are openly placing some of the blame on Apple. Sounds like they should toss this idea in the trash and worry about HTML5.

It's been rumored that Adobe is on the verge of releasing a flash player for the Palm WebOS and iPhone.

Marketing genius. No way that phone was accidentally left in a bar. Even Apple is finally noticing they no longer have a stronghold on the smartphone market. Now the service providers for the iPhone need to drop their prices on 'unlimited everything' plans.

I thought it was the volcanos fault. I heard that a large number of people were not able to attend the funeral because of the volcano.

In related news: 5-year-old arrested for eating Fruit Loops with a spoon.

Sandblast that puppy.

I saw a few turkeys this afternoon when I stopped by David Crockett State Park. Made me hungry.

Shuttle Re-Entry in 1996 These are shots (on film) from a previous "descending node" re-entry of the Space Shuttle, of STS79 Atlantis on the morning of September 26, 1996. The Shuttle was returning with Shannon Lucid from the Mir space Station. Atlantis flew directly over southern Alberta, Canada in the pre-dawn sky, under similar circumstances to Monday's (or possibly Tuesday's, if they wave off for a day) planned re-entry. The Shuttle itself appeared as a brilliant pink star (blurred in photo #1 and #2 into a pink streak). It left behind a greenish plasma trail that lingered for many minutes, recorded in photo #3 and #4. In all, a spectacular sight. And sound! A sonic boom was heard. Descending node entries are very rare, so we hope we'll get to see this one, from STS131.

And while their at it, I'd like to see some heads rolling at the Childrens Services offices.

+1 I wish they would start charging the mothers, too. It would probably be a slippery slope, but something needs done about all these women who allow these type of men around their children.

I would have joined you for a ride today, but I'm currently headed to Waynesboro to pick up my rugbrat.

Thanks for your service! Welcome to TGO! Enjoy your stay!

Here's a pretty good link. Scroll down for .380 ammo. Selection of best ammunition for a defensive handgun

In my humble opinion, I'd go with Cor-Bon 90 grain, or the Federal Hydro Shock 90 grain.

If you're trying to stay that cheap, you can look at Kenwood, Pioneer, or Sony. Take a look at your local Best Buy, Electronic Express, or even Wal-Mart. If you can find the extra scratch (roughly double the price), take a look at Infinity, Alpine, or Polk Audio.

What do you consider "a reasonable price"?

Well, according to the local news networks, they are calling for roughly 80° and 30% chance of rain for Saturday. With the forecast being several days out, maybe things will change.

Never a single issue with my Colt Defender.

There have been too many reports of people being shot and / or killed over a parking space. Not worth it to me.