US secret space plane spends a year in orbit

You've totally missed the point. That it exis It is not, and never has been, a secret (in fact it was originally a civilian, NASA, programme). What is secret is its purpose and the mission it is carrying out. The Daily Mail could publish a dozen photos of the CIAs headquarters, it doesn't mean that what goes on inside isn't top secret. I guess sarcasm is lost on some. ha actually the pics have been around for quite some time, I remember posting on this when it first flew....ages ago! Its what its s'posed to do that's the secret bit, obviously!! It could have made its way to Mars and back by no... [More]

I guess sarcasm is lost on some. No - it's an orbital craft. yep, and the operative word being 'could'.. and not... 'has'...

If this is what the Space Shuttle was from the beginning it would still be in use upgraded of course to bad NASA always get the junk.

I guess sarcasm is lost on some. I guess the desire to be informative and factualy correct is lost on some too. Whether you were being sarcastic or not is irrelevant, your post still missed the point. yep, and the operative word being 'could'.. and not... 'has'... "Could" is the exact opposite of being the operative word. As Rafterman was pointing out it is not capable of getting to Mars. and who knows it hasnt in the amount of time its been up there? Quite a lot of people actually. It has been constantly tracked since launch by many amateurs around the world. It's position at almost Amy given... [More]

If this is what the Space Shuttle was from the beginning it would still be in use upgraded of course to bad NASA always get the junk. Nonsense. This vehicle could not have existed without the shuttle. It draws heavily on technology used for the shuttle. It is tiny, incapable of carrying crew, has such a tiny payload bay that virtually none of the shuttle's payloads could fit inside it. It was not designed to, and is not capable of, carrying out the missions that the shuttle did. In fact, when this was still a NASA project the X-37 was going to be carried into orbit by the shuttle. To simply de... [More]

I guess the desire to be informative and factualy correct is lost on some too. Whether you were being sarcastic or not is irrelevant, your post still missed the point. Guess I've just been around here long enough to know where these kinds of threads head relatively quickly.

Waspie, some of us care and are paying attention. Keep up the good fight. -Brand

And somewhere in a hidden laboratory, an intern reading through the UM forum stares at their monitor, glances over to last year's scheduled projects, and notices that one of them wasn't actually checked off as "completed". "Oh, yeaaah...forgot about that one..."

And somewhere in a hidden laboratory, an intern reading through the UM forum stares at their monitor, glances over to last year's scheduled projects, and notices that one of them wasn't actually checked off as "completed". "Oh, yeaaah...forgot about that one..." Too funny ! but true ! ITs where they get all there underground data ! Just ask Badeskov`s !

Hi Waspie-Dwarf. Your statement ''To simply describe the shuttle (the most complicated machine ever made)''...... is totally wrong. I once purchased a flatpack DIY bunkbed for my kids and I can assure you it was much, much more complicated than the shuttle.