Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
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Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#2Whatever the X-37B does, it seems to do it very well. This is its fourth mission.
Missions - that don't need people - are the luckiest missions in the world..
Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#3Why do the workers wear Hazmat suits in the image?
Maybe my interpretation is spoiled by all those sci-fi disaster movies and games and they are just wearing protective suits in case of fire etc.
Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#4Why do the workers wear Hazmat suits in the image? Maybe my interpretation is spoiled by all those sci-fi disaster movies and games and they are just wearing protective suits in case of fire etc.
Just a shot in the dark, but hydrazine, a typical hypergolic propellant for spacecraft, is super toxic.
Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#5Why do the workers wear Hazmat suits in the image? Maybe my interpretation is spoiled by all those sci-fi disaster movies and games and they are just wearing protective suits in case of fire etc.
Toxic propellants. Nitrogen tetroxide / hydrazine. Both components are highly toxic.
The big space shuttle used those for its maneuvering propulsion, and ground crews had to wear all the protective gear after landing until the propellant had been drained.
Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#6Whatever the X-37B does, it seems to do it very well. This is its fourth mission. Missions - that don't need people - are the luckiest missions in the world..
Probably a space equivalent of the USS Jimmy Carter - i.e. hacking/surveilling unfriendly satellites.
Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#7Why do the workers wear Hazmat suits in the image? Maybe my interpretation is spoiled by all those sci-fi disaster movies and games and they are just wearing protective suits in case of fire etc.
Toxic propellants. Nitrogen tetroxide / hydrazine. Both components are highly toxic. The big space shuttle used those for its maneuvering propulsion, and ground crews had to wear all the protective gear after landing until the propellant had been drained.
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Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#8Trump mentioned, after he had his first meeting with Obama, that they had spoken at length about "high flying assets".
Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#9This is the X-37B. There's a contract for an X-37C, 1.8x as big and possibly capable of carrying humans.[1] That would be a nice little spacecraft. It's time to get past capsules, without building something as big and fragile as the Space Shuttle. The USAF and Boeing aren't saying much about it, though.
[1] http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/aerospace-engineering/spa...
Re: Unmanned U.S. Air Force space plane lands after secret, two-year mission
#10Why do the workers wear Hazmat suits in the image? Maybe my interpretation is spoiled by all those sci-fi disaster movies and games and they are just wearing protective suits in case of fire etc.
Toxic propellants. Nitrogen tetroxide / hydrazine. Both components are highly toxic. The big space shuttle used those for its maneuvering propulsion, and ground crews had to wear all the protective gear after landing until the propellant had been drained.
Is it all combusted perfectly, or do they lose some and just leave droplets of toxic liquid propellant in their paths as they fly?