DocM Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 A three-tiered program starting with the now flying X-37B and possibly culminating in a much larger crew/cargo spaceplane. Aviation Week.... Boeing Studies X-37B Evolved Crew DerivativeLOS ANGELES ? Boeing is studying scaled-up variants of the reusable X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV) for potential delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. The development plan is believed to be aimed at providing a larger cargo adjunct to the company?s CST-100 crew vehicle as well as a possible longer-term, crew-carrying successor. The plan builds on the ongoing OTV demonstration with the U.S. Air Force, the first phase of which ended when the classified, unmanned OTV-1 demonstration flight concluded in December 2010 with an autonomous landing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., following 244 days in orbit. A second mission, OTV-2, is under way. OTV-2 has been in space since March 5, and assuming it has not already been covertly recovered, is expected to remain in space until at least mid-October. A landing around Oct. 15 will equal the OTV-1?s mission length. Given the 270-day mission endurance limit of the X-37B, as earlier described by the Air Force, the early March launch means the landing at Vandenberg can be expected on or before Nov. 30. The X-37B evolution study, which harks back to the pre-military NASA origins of the OTV, envisages a three-phase buildup. The first would see the current 29-ft.-long vehicle used for demonstration flights to the ISS. In its current configuration, the X-37B launched inside the 5-meter (16.5-ft.) fairing of the Atlas V could already take bulky items such as the station?s control moment gyros, battery discharge and pump module, Boeing says. The second phase would see the development of a 165% scaled-up version, roughly 47 ft. long and large enough to transport larger line replaceable units (LRUs) to the station. The larger version would demonstrate operations to and from the ISS, paving the way for a human-carrying derivative in the third phase. This would see a human-rated version transport ?five to seven astronauts,? says Art Grantz, Boeing?s X-37B project chief. Speaking at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space 2011 conference in Long Beach, Calif., Grantz says ?the next step is a larger cargo vehicle that can deliver and return large ISS LRUs while retiring the risks associated with autonomous transportation of astronauts to and from LEO.? Although many details of the OTV-1 flight remain unknown and with OTV-2 shrouded in even more mystery than the first flight, Grantz says the initial launch was aimed at ?making it operate like an airborne test platform.? From a vehicle viewpoint, however, it also demonstrated autonomous de-orbit using ?shuttle-style? trajectory and aero-braking manuevers as well as a ?soft landing? on a runway. The test also validated the X-37B?s autonomous guidance, navigation and control system, electro-mechanical flight control system and thermal protection. During the X-37B?s eight months in space, Air Force controllers also demonstrated deployment of the solar wing, its subsequent stowage and return for reuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam14160 Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Verrrrrrrry Interesting! :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShareShiz Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 when can we get a flight to mars ? im sick of earth :alien: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 thanks for the post Doc, i'm very much thrilled with this, the human-carrying third variant is what i call a proper single stage system from the looks of it, though there's no timeline at all here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 9, 2011 Author Share Posted October 9, 2011 X-37C would still launch on a booster, but be larger and with crew capabilities including a docking mechanism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisp Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 How much are tickets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 9, 2011 Author Share Posted October 9, 2011 Sorry kiddo - this is likely on the USAFs dime, so most likely a military spaceplane. Possibly related to projects SUSTAIN and BLACKSTAR, and a concept paper called Wild Ride. Wild Ride....(PDF) SUSTAIN.... BLACKSTAR.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 so none of these are single stage? and they're kinda small. but that's not what she said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 They do require a booster, and SSTO for large payloads is a ways off yet. Many significant problems to address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 The X-37B is now past it's nominal 270 day mission length. It seems the bird is doing everything the USAF wanted and more so the mission's being extended. Looking like the design is a winner. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1111/29otv2/ Military space shuttle receives mission extensionBY STEPHEN CLARK SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: November 29, 2011 Quietly orbiting Earth since March, the U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane will surpass its 270-day design life Wednesday with no sign the clandestine spacecraft is landing any time soon. The X-37B has been in orbit since March 5, when an Atlas 5 rocket hauled the two-ton, 29-foot-long spacecraft into space from Cape Canaveral, Fla. "On-orbit experimentation is continuing," said Air Force Maj. Tracy Bunko, an spokesperson for the Secretary of the Air Force. "Though we cannot predict when that will be complete, we are learning new things about the vehicle every day, which makes the mission a very dynamic process." The winged spaceship's specific mission is secret, as is the contents of the craft's unpressurized cargo hold. But the Air Force says its purpose is to haul experiments and other small payloads to space and return them intact. It's circling 210 miles overhead moving at more than 17,000 mph, but the stubby-winged spaceship is designed to glide back to Earth guided by GPS navigation signals and touch down precisely on a runway in California. Air Force officials said the X-37 was designed to fly in space for up to 270 days, but engineers will extend the mission beyond its nine-month baseline. "We initially planned for a 9-month mission, but will continue to extend it as circumstances allow," Bunko said in a statement released to Spaceflight Now. "This will provide us with additional experimentation opportunities and allow us to extract the maximum value out of the mission." With wings, tail stabilizers and cargo bay doors, the reusable X-37B resembles a space shuttle orbiter. It's about a quarter of the size of an orbiter, and its thermal blankets and heat shield tiles give the craft a checkered black, gray and white color. But the space plane's tiles are tougher than the shuttle's, its electromechanical flight control system replaces the orbiter's hydraulic actuators, and the X-37B is powered by a deployable solar panel instead of cryogenic fuel cells. The upgrades allow the X-37B to stay in orbit months longer than the space shuttle, which was limited to missions lasting about two-and-a-half weeks, according to Air Force officials. The X-37B is also called the Orbital Test Vehicle. The Air Force says it will not announce the return date until landing nears. The military revealed the first X-37 mission's homecoming a day before it flew to a successful landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. When engineers decide to end the mission, the X-37 will fire a thruster to drop from orbit and plunge back into the atmosphere. The space plane will be shielded from scorching temperatures by ceramic tiles as it soars over the Pacific Ocean, and its guidance computer will autonomously hone in on 15,000-foot runway at Vandenberg. The inaugural X-37 orbital mission, which ended last Dec. 3 after 224 days in space, accomplished the first U.S. automatic landing from space on a runway. The Soviet Union's Buran space shuttle achieved the feat in 1988. Built by Boeing Co., the X-37 space plane started off as a NASA project. The Defense Department took over in 2004, and responsibility for the X-37 ended up with the Air Force in late 2006. Boeing built two space-worthy X-37s. Before approving plans to launch the current mission, engineers inspected the first craft after its return last year. Last year's flight demonstrated the craft could operate in space and successfully return. Going into this year's mission, officials said they would further explore the craft's capabilities, including a longer stay in orbit and accepting worse weather conditions for landing. For now, the Air Force plans to maintain silence on the progress of the current mission. "We won't have anything else to say until we announce a landing date, which has not yet been determined," Bunko said. Ted Molczan, a respected satellite tracker based in Canada, said the ongoing mission has maintained its orbit between 200 miles and 215 miles in altitude since launch. Last year's flight conducted more orbit adjustments, possibly to test the craft's propulsion system. Managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, headquartered in the Pentagon, the Orbital Test Vehicle program tentatively plans a third flight in the future. But the Air Force will not release a date for the next mission. Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, the X-37 program director, said more information on another flight could be released by the end of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 good news Doc! but USAF means this is all military stuff and the military don't really care about going to Mars and everything i care about...are there any civilian applications coming up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Hard to say. Some think this is a way to see if a spaceplane would he a viable military platform, then a move could be made to go for a crewed one. Next would be the decision as to designing a scaled up X-37 or just going with one already in development: SNC's DreamChaser. It's designed for both crew and robotic ops and with a deployable solar panel could stay up a long, long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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