Kepler-37c

Transcription

Guys, c'mere… I have a secret… the military has a secret space shuttle! oh, everyone already knew that. So in case you didn't already know, the U.S. Air Force has a SECRET SPACE SHUTTLE! If you pay attention to space news, you probably already heard about it. I mean, Vandenberg Air Force Base sent out a press release last week telling the world it was landing last Tuesday! It's called the X-37B, and the secret part isn't that it exists, but what it's FOR. Here's what we DO know: The reusable orbiter is a fourth the size of the old NASA space shuttle -- which means it's only 9 and-a-half feet tall (2.9M) and not quite 30 feet long (8.9M). It's unmanned, and fully automated. It's launched atop an Atlas V rocket and can stay in space for a LONG time, using solar panels to power itself, and when one landed in 2010 it did so autonomously. NASA started the X37 project in 1999 and transferred it to the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency -better known as DARPA - in 2004. Her first flight was in 2006, and there have since been three orbital flights and two tiny orbiters built… The third mission ended this week, more than doubling the time in space of the previous mission. The Air Force is open with all this information, but when asked what the X-37B is DOING up there… that's when things get all Area 51-ish. They're quote "testing technologies," "operating experiments," and trying to create a quote "fast-turnaround vehicle -- making sure it can be re-fueled and re-launched within days" rather than months. But the theories as to what it's doing up there abound! According to amateur astronomers it flies around 218 miles up (350km), above the ISS, and an ideal altitude for spying -- says some sources. Popular Mechanics did a short round-up, and they say the three major theories are these: it's either a spy plane -- spying from space is ideal, the media has worried about it, and those astronomers say the orbit should fly over Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Hmm… perhaps it's a space-based bomber! The payload bay is small, but no so much that the X-37B couldn't hold a nuke! (Of course, NASA studied this in the 60s, and found nuclear blasts in space, or high orbit can mess with a LARGE section of Earth. Why risk taking a nuke to space?! It could screw up communications globally, and irradiate a lot of the surface. Based on actual nuclear tests in space, NASA discovered radiation exposure between 8 and 17 times higher than at sea level with the same explosive. That's horrifying. Plus the amount of fuel required to move a spacecraft around in space makes a space-bomber of that size fairly useless. ) THIS SEEMS TO TAKE THE SCRIPT A BIT OFF THE RAILS - COULD CUT. Maybe… *GASP* the government is telling the truth, and it's for experiments! The Air Force is known for trying cutting edge tech, so maybe? I dunno. Regardless, the X-37B's third mission came to an end this week, bringing all this to the surface again. Neither Boeing nor the Air Force are saying anything about the exact mission, but Boeing is already contracted to create the X-37C, which is 65-percent larger -- meaning it could carry up to six astronauts. What do you think these secret shuttles are for? Are they going to fly to the far side of the moon and look for aliens? WHAT DOES IT DOOOOO??