Mysterious robotic plane hits 500 days in space; what's it doing?

by
in space on (#3JK)
story imagePhys.org reports :
A robotic space plane is speeding in low Earth orbit at this very moment. Some say it's a weapon; others, a data-gathering mission. There's one fact most agree on as the plane hits 500 days in space: Its real purpose is a mystery.

The Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Space Vehicle, constructed in California, is one-fourth the size of the Endeavour Space Shuttle.

Whatever its real purpose, the X-37B has very real capabilities. It travels low in orbit, staying around 110 to 500 miles above the Earth at a cruising speed of about 17,500 mph. It's equipped with special heat-shield tiles for re-entry, which are billed by Boeing as tougher than Endeavour's.

But the government's treatment of the project poses questions. Though it's advertised as a secret project, Boeing releases pictures and more than two pages of details on the X-37B. In contrast, the secret, super-fast Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was not declassified until decades after it had been used in the Vietnam War.
More pictures and speculation can be found at Extremetech .

Re: Multi purpose (Score: 1, Interesting)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-01 15:04 (#1A3)

If so, why is its purpose not made public? The public surely pays for it, so if it would be entirely scientific there would be no need to make it a mystery. This leads to the conclusion that there must be some military application.
Post Comment
Subject
Comment
Captcha
What is the 4th number in the list 22, thirty three, three and 30?