Amateur sky watchers solve X-37B mystery

well excuse me waspie, I made a mistake while trying to to put in the post news section now aftert after that I botched it up and didnt not realize, Fod gods sake man you have seen me here long enough with hunfred of proper posts so you know I know how to do it right, Go esasy on this old man when here makes a mistake, IT WAS AN ACCICEBT man, I did npot notice till this morning , Oh and ill do my best to try and not screw up up again but if it happens then it happens, But waspie bloody thirst on the thread is why we love him. I like how it says secret mini shuttle.......ain't that secret it se... [More]

I accept it was a mistake, and that you did not deliberately break the rules. However you now force me to remind you of the rules again: 5. Moderator actionUnexplained Mysteries is a privately owned web site and as such we reserve the right to remove any post that we deem to be inappropriate, offensive or intentionally disruptive, or to take any action necessary against any member whose behaviour we deem to be inappropriate, offensive or intentionally disruptive. Action taken is done on a case by case basis and is dependant on the nature and severity of the violations, but can include anything... [More]

I have forgotten a few times my self to post the source. Stuff happens. Any way I am happy to see SOME ONE getting some use out of the x-47. I think the air-force is thinking satellite retrieval and repair. Sounds good to me! Second that Roger, and it could lead to even more possibilitys,

Air Force spaceplane is an odd bird with a twisted pastMore than a decade after its conception in the halls of NASA, and having snaked its way through multiple Pentagon bureaucracies, an unmanned military spaceplane is finally on the verge of launching on an unprecendented test flight. A stubby-winged spaceship called the Orbital Test Vehicle will fly into orbit on an Atlas 5 rocket, taking a round-trip shakedown voyage for the U.S. Air Force. "What it offers that we have seldom had is the ability to bring back payloads and experiments to examine how well the experiments performed on-orbit," s... [More]

Air Force spaceplane is an odd bird with a twisted past"What it offers that we have seldom had is the ability to bring back payloads and experiments to examine how well the experiments performed on-orbit," said Gary Payton, the undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs. Not to mention the ability to bring back spy satellites belonging to less friendly countries!

Not to mention the ability to bring back spy satellites belonging to less friendly countries! What are you trying to do, start an International Fight? Of course that Iranian Satellite that's up there would be interesting to look at!

Not to mention the ability to bring back spy satellites belonging to less friendly countries! This was an accusation raised by the Soviets against the US space shuttle when it was first developed. Even though the shuttle in theory had such a capability to use it would be fraught with danger. One can not simply pluck a foreign powers satellite out of orbit without being noticed. The diplomatic repercussions would be immense. Besides which it is a simple matter to fit a self destruct system to a sensitive satellite. Wait until it is in the payload bay and the detonate on-board explosives. All in... [More]

This was an accusation raised by the Soviets against the US space shuttle when it was first developed. Even though the shuttle in theory had such a capability to use it would be fraught with danger. One can not simply pluck a foreign powers satellite out of orbit without being noticed. The diplomatic repercussions would be immense. Besides which it is a simple matter to fit a self destruct system to a sensitive satellite. Wait until it is in the payload bay and the detonate on-board explosives. All in all far too risky. Which is why they wouldn't risk it with the Manned shuttle, but an unmanne... [More]

Which is why they wouldn't risk it with the Manned shuttle, but an unmanned spaceplane? I think it would be too tempting not to try it! I disagree, except in time of war the diplomatic ramifications would be huge. Piracy is piracy whether on the high sees or in space. Besides which, unmanned or not why risk an extremely high tech vehicle to steal a far lower tech spy satellite. To me it would be a bit like buying a Bugatti Veyron to go ram raiding on a jewellers shop. In most cases it would be cheaper and simpler to simply use conventional espionage to get hold of the blue prints. Remember als... [More]

I disagree, except in time of war the diplomatic ramifications would be huge. Piracy is piracy whether on the high sees or in space. Besides which, unmanned or not why risk an extremely high tech vehicle to steal a far lower tech spy satellite. To me it would be a bit like buying a Bugatti Veyron to go ram raiding on a jewellers shop. In most cases it would be cheaper and simpler to simply use conventional espionage to get hold of the blue prints. Remember also that this vehicle is small (only 8.38m in length), it was designed to fit in the payload bay of the shuttle. It would be extremely lim... [More]