X-37B secret cosmic drones have found a home in the Kennedy Space Center
In mid-October, NASA officially confirmed the fact that the two former hangar for space shuttles, located on the territory of the Kennedy Space Center, will be used as part of a secret military space program. It is reported that the devices created under the US Air Force X-37B program will occupy two corps to prepare the OPF1 and OPF2 orbital stations (Orbiter Processing Facilities).
These enclosures are interconnected and are located near the vertical assembly. The partnership between the military and NASA implies that both corps will be used for their intended purpose - for aircraft maintenance. This is stated in a press release of the American Space Agency. Terms and details of the agreement are not disclosed. Air Force representatives did not give any comments.
As early as January 37, the Boeing Corporation, which is implementing the X-2014B unmanned spacecraft project, announced its plans to use the first hull to prepare the OPF1 space station. At that time, the Air Force representatives also did not comment on this information, however, they previously said that they had studied the potential savings from consolidating operations on the X-37B program, which was tied to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with the Kennedy Space Center. The budget of this program is classified. In October, 2014 of the year at NASA reported that the upgrade of the two hangars involved in the transaction will be completed by the end of this year.
It is worth noting that one of the most secret US military space programs will be based in a place that is visited by millions of tourists. The Kennedy Space Center houses the American Space Survey Center. The territory of the center occupies more than 50 thousand hectares on the world famous Cape Canaveral. More than 50 years this sandy and silty terrain on the coast of the Atlantic is the launching pad for many space programs, a kind of US space gate.
Like any space object, this is a very complex and technically perfect place that is open to the public. Every year, millions of tourists from all over the world inspect the saints of the American cosmonautics "live". This is not surprising, since here anyone can touch stories US space exploration. For those who are fond of space and the American space program in particular, this is a very interesting object, allowing to touch the technologies that allowed man to land on the moon.
Tourists are attracted here a lot, including the opportunity to see American spacecraft reusable. It was from here that famous space shuttles once flew. Excursions conducted here imply the acquaintance of tourists with all the stages of preparing the ship for the launch, as well as an inspection from a special observation deck of the launch complex.
On the territory of the center there are specialized facilities, among which there are some of the largest buildings on the planet. One of these buildings is the assembly and test building, which is designed to house the Saturn-V 4-x missiles. The height of this building is 160 meters, length - 218 meters, width - 158 meters, the total area - 3 hectares. The huge gates of the building, consisting of 11 sections, open for almost an hour. The height of the gate itself is 139 meters, which is 3 times higher than the famous Statue of Liberty. In addition, the gate has a special form, they are super-wide in the ground part. This was done in order to ensure the passage of huge transporters and installers who are engaged in the delivery of spacecraft to the launch site.
Much here today is arranged for tourists, for the sake of profit. At this base, NASA held space technology exhibitions, sightseeing tours. Tourists have access to various attractions, they can also watch scientific, educational and documentary films on the topic of space exploration in the IMAX cinema. At the same time, even the top-secret project of the US Air Force to create an unmanned spacecraft should attract tourists. The blue-painted gates of the first hull for the OPF1 orbital stations are already positioned as “home for X37B”. This is another marketing move: the hangar building is clearly visible from passing buses with tourists.
Spacecraft, which will be placed literally under the noses of tourists, have been exciting the minds of experts for a long time. The true purpose of these space drones remains unclear. Experts put forward a variety of versions, up to the point that the X37B may be the "mother ships" of future star wars or interceptor ships. Free space for their placement appeared at NASA after the shuttle program was curtailed, and the space agency switched to the development of new shuttle cargo ships like the Orion manned spacecraft. After that, two sites intended for shuttles turned out to be free.
The completion of the modernization of the hangars and the surrounding technical buildings will be completed by the end of 2014. Currently, the runway has already been tested, on which the shuttles were landed. This airstrip was found to be fully suitable for the use of relatively small X-37B space drones.
So far about orbital drones Boeing has very little information. The program is already being called one of the Pentagon's most secret projects. The US military themselves are convincing the world community that the main purpose of the mysterious spacecraft is to test technologies that can be used in the future to create reusable spacecraft, and their full automation is explained by the desire not to endanger the lives of pilots.
Work on the creation of unmanned spacecraft began in the year 1999, when the aircraft manufacturing corporation Boeing won the tender for the design and creation of a new orbital ship. Over the course of 4, about 200 million dollars was spent on the project. Another 300 million dollars the company Boeing was able to get a new contract in 2002 year. Two years later, the project was transferred to the Pentagon’s innovative wing - the Defense Research Agency DARPA. Since then, the project has been given the highest degree of secrecy.
The real tasks of the X-37B spacecraft are unknown, but over the years the program has been in existence, experts have put forward a large number of versions of their use. A spaceship 9 meters long with 4,5 meters wings has a small cargo hold and is able to lift about a ton of weight into orbit. For example, it can be used to put into orbit various dual-purpose satellites or elements of space weapons systems. There is a possibility that the drone itself can carry on board weapon. According to some rumors, the spaceship can be used to conduct reconnaissance, and to carry out attacks on enemy satellites and spacecraft, and even ground objects, the specialized publication Defense News notes.
Experts from Russia agree with the opinion that the unmanned spacecraft is created as a combat drone. The head of the Space Policy Institute, Ivan Moiseev, believes that the apparatus is purely military, and the Americans keep its appointment secret. The extraordinary secrecy of this project in an interview with the “Russian Planet” was also confirmed by Alexander Zheleznyakov, academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. Tsiolkovsky. It is unlikely that the device will be used to attack targets on the surface of the Earth, but it may well become the successful embodiment of a space interceptor project that will be able to stop and inspect objects located in Earth orbit, and if necessary, destroy them. This version is put forward by Alexander Shirokorad from “Independent Military Survey”, who gave the device the definition of “reusable aerospace corsair”.
However, according to Ivan Moiseyev, X-37B is still not an interceptor ship, but “a mother ship for small satellites”. The expert believes that in the event of a local conflict, an unmanned spacecraft will be able to put into the Earth orbit a number of small satellites that will provide the military with the necessary data, information and communications.
At the moment, this device has three times ascended the Earth's orbit - in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In addition, each flight of the spacecraft was longer than the previous one. And the X-37B, which was launched in 2012, is still in Earth orbit. The details of each of these missions were not disclosed. However, during the second flight in the press, the information that the device was working on collecting intelligence information slipped.
It was reported that the spaceship could use a sophisticated sensor system to spy on the first in the history of the PRC orbital station - the Tiangong-1. This was written by David Baker, author of the specialized magazine Spaceflight. According to Baker, the proliferation of various space tracking systems should benefit both the United States and the PRC - countries will be able to enter into more lucrative agreements with each other thanks to the knowledge of the secrets of the other side. At the same time, the version of the journalist Baker is not confirmed either in Washington or in Beijing; other specialists do not support it either.
According to Ivan Moiseev, development, similar to the American project X-37B, in the Russian Federation has not yet been made. The X-37B space drone is a winged vehicle that has additional maneuvering capabilities and is compact enough. There were similar developments in the country when the work on the project “Buran” was carried out, but now everything is forgotten. The expert summarized that if something like this exists in the Russian Federation, it is only on paper.
It is worth noting that the United States wanted to create the first-ever combat spacecraft back in the 1960s. The project was also created by Boeing, it became known as X-20 Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring). To some extent, he could become a prototype for the X-37B. Then the US government spent on the project 660 millions of dollars, in terms of today's course - more than 5 billions of dollars. However, that project was never completed. The insufficient technological level of those years and the high cost of the project were the main reasons for its closure. According to the plans of its creators, the tasks of this military spacecraft included the destruction of satellites, reconnaissance and even the bombing of enemy troops.
In the future, the development of military astronautics was hampered by the existing bilateral agreements between the USSR and the USA, which restricted the proliferation of strategic weapons, including in space. The Space Treaty, which then became the basis of space law and was signed by Moscow in 1967, states that the deployment of any weapons of mass destruction in Earth’s orbit, on the Moon, in a space station or in another celestial body is prohibited.
At the same time, the contract does not prohibit work on the creation of space weapons, as well as the launch into the Earth orbit of other, less destructive types of weapons. In 2008, Russia and the PRC at a conference on disarmament held in Geneva introduced a joint project on the “Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Use of Force or the Threat of Force against Space Objects”. In June, 2014, a new version of this document appeared, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported about it. According to the ministry, the agreement is ready to be signed by most countries of the world, but its discussion is delayed for bureaucratic reasons.
Information sources:
http://rusplt.ru/world/priyut-dlya-kosmicheskogo-korsara-13519.html
http://eurasian-defence.ru/node/31950
http://www.planetofhotels.com/ssha/orlando/kosmicheskiy-centr-imeni-kennedi
http://univnews.ru/catalog/news/breaking_news/nasa-partners-with-x-37b-program-for-use-of-former-space-shuttle-hangars.htm
These enclosures are interconnected and are located near the vertical assembly. The partnership between the military and NASA implies that both corps will be used for their intended purpose - for aircraft maintenance. This is stated in a press release of the American Space Agency. Terms and details of the agreement are not disclosed. Air Force representatives did not give any comments.
As early as January 37, the Boeing Corporation, which is implementing the X-2014B unmanned spacecraft project, announced its plans to use the first hull to prepare the OPF1 space station. At that time, the Air Force representatives also did not comment on this information, however, they previously said that they had studied the potential savings from consolidating operations on the X-37B program, which was tied to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with the Kennedy Space Center. The budget of this program is classified. In October, 2014 of the year at NASA reported that the upgrade of the two hangars involved in the transaction will be completed by the end of this year.
It is worth noting that one of the most secret US military space programs will be based in a place that is visited by millions of tourists. The Kennedy Space Center houses the American Space Survey Center. The territory of the center occupies more than 50 thousand hectares on the world famous Cape Canaveral. More than 50 years this sandy and silty terrain on the coast of the Atlantic is the launching pad for many space programs, a kind of US space gate.
Like any space object, this is a very complex and technically perfect place that is open to the public. Every year, millions of tourists from all over the world inspect the saints of the American cosmonautics "live". This is not surprising, since here anyone can touch stories US space exploration. For those who are fond of space and the American space program in particular, this is a very interesting object, allowing to touch the technologies that allowed man to land on the moon.
Tourists are attracted here a lot, including the opportunity to see American spacecraft reusable. It was from here that famous space shuttles once flew. Excursions conducted here imply the acquaintance of tourists with all the stages of preparing the ship for the launch, as well as an inspection from a special observation deck of the launch complex.
On the territory of the center there are specialized facilities, among which there are some of the largest buildings on the planet. One of these buildings is the assembly and test building, which is designed to house the Saturn-V 4-x missiles. The height of this building is 160 meters, length - 218 meters, width - 158 meters, the total area - 3 hectares. The huge gates of the building, consisting of 11 sections, open for almost an hour. The height of the gate itself is 139 meters, which is 3 times higher than the famous Statue of Liberty. In addition, the gate has a special form, they are super-wide in the ground part. This was done in order to ensure the passage of huge transporters and installers who are engaged in the delivery of spacecraft to the launch site.
Much here today is arranged for tourists, for the sake of profit. At this base, NASA held space technology exhibitions, sightseeing tours. Tourists have access to various attractions, they can also watch scientific, educational and documentary films on the topic of space exploration in the IMAX cinema. At the same time, even the top-secret project of the US Air Force to create an unmanned spacecraft should attract tourists. The blue-painted gates of the first hull for the OPF1 orbital stations are already positioned as “home for X37B”. This is another marketing move: the hangar building is clearly visible from passing buses with tourists.
Spacecraft, which will be placed literally under the noses of tourists, have been exciting the minds of experts for a long time. The true purpose of these space drones remains unclear. Experts put forward a variety of versions, up to the point that the X37B may be the "mother ships" of future star wars or interceptor ships. Free space for their placement appeared at NASA after the shuttle program was curtailed, and the space agency switched to the development of new shuttle cargo ships like the Orion manned spacecraft. After that, two sites intended for shuttles turned out to be free.
The completion of the modernization of the hangars and the surrounding technical buildings will be completed by the end of 2014. Currently, the runway has already been tested, on which the shuttles were landed. This airstrip was found to be fully suitable for the use of relatively small X-37B space drones.
So far about orbital drones Boeing has very little information. The program is already being called one of the Pentagon's most secret projects. The US military themselves are convincing the world community that the main purpose of the mysterious spacecraft is to test technologies that can be used in the future to create reusable spacecraft, and their full automation is explained by the desire not to endanger the lives of pilots.
Work on the creation of unmanned spacecraft began in the year 1999, when the aircraft manufacturing corporation Boeing won the tender for the design and creation of a new orbital ship. Over the course of 4, about 200 million dollars was spent on the project. Another 300 million dollars the company Boeing was able to get a new contract in 2002 year. Two years later, the project was transferred to the Pentagon’s innovative wing - the Defense Research Agency DARPA. Since then, the project has been given the highest degree of secrecy.
The real tasks of the X-37B spacecraft are unknown, but over the years the program has been in existence, experts have put forward a large number of versions of their use. A spaceship 9 meters long with 4,5 meters wings has a small cargo hold and is able to lift about a ton of weight into orbit. For example, it can be used to put into orbit various dual-purpose satellites or elements of space weapons systems. There is a possibility that the drone itself can carry on board weapon. According to some rumors, the spaceship can be used to conduct reconnaissance, and to carry out attacks on enemy satellites and spacecraft, and even ground objects, the specialized publication Defense News notes.
Experts from Russia agree with the opinion that the unmanned spacecraft is created as a combat drone. The head of the Space Policy Institute, Ivan Moiseev, believes that the apparatus is purely military, and the Americans keep its appointment secret. The extraordinary secrecy of this project in an interview with the “Russian Planet” was also confirmed by Alexander Zheleznyakov, academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. Tsiolkovsky. It is unlikely that the device will be used to attack targets on the surface of the Earth, but it may well become the successful embodiment of a space interceptor project that will be able to stop and inspect objects located in Earth orbit, and if necessary, destroy them. This version is put forward by Alexander Shirokorad from “Independent Military Survey”, who gave the device the definition of “reusable aerospace corsair”.
However, according to Ivan Moiseyev, X-37B is still not an interceptor ship, but “a mother ship for small satellites”. The expert believes that in the event of a local conflict, an unmanned spacecraft will be able to put into the Earth orbit a number of small satellites that will provide the military with the necessary data, information and communications.
At the moment, this device has three times ascended the Earth's orbit - in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In addition, each flight of the spacecraft was longer than the previous one. And the X-37B, which was launched in 2012, is still in Earth orbit. The details of each of these missions were not disclosed. However, during the second flight in the press, the information that the device was working on collecting intelligence information slipped.
It was reported that the spaceship could use a sophisticated sensor system to spy on the first in the history of the PRC orbital station - the Tiangong-1. This was written by David Baker, author of the specialized magazine Spaceflight. According to Baker, the proliferation of various space tracking systems should benefit both the United States and the PRC - countries will be able to enter into more lucrative agreements with each other thanks to the knowledge of the secrets of the other side. At the same time, the version of the journalist Baker is not confirmed either in Washington or in Beijing; other specialists do not support it either.
According to Ivan Moiseev, development, similar to the American project X-37B, in the Russian Federation has not yet been made. The X-37B space drone is a winged vehicle that has additional maneuvering capabilities and is compact enough. There were similar developments in the country when the work on the project “Buran” was carried out, but now everything is forgotten. The expert summarized that if something like this exists in the Russian Federation, it is only on paper.
It is worth noting that the United States wanted to create the first-ever combat spacecraft back in the 1960s. The project was also created by Boeing, it became known as X-20 Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring). To some extent, he could become a prototype for the X-37B. Then the US government spent on the project 660 millions of dollars, in terms of today's course - more than 5 billions of dollars. However, that project was never completed. The insufficient technological level of those years and the high cost of the project were the main reasons for its closure. According to the plans of its creators, the tasks of this military spacecraft included the destruction of satellites, reconnaissance and even the bombing of enemy troops.
In the future, the development of military astronautics was hampered by the existing bilateral agreements between the USSR and the USA, which restricted the proliferation of strategic weapons, including in space. The Space Treaty, which then became the basis of space law and was signed by Moscow in 1967, states that the deployment of any weapons of mass destruction in Earth’s orbit, on the Moon, in a space station or in another celestial body is prohibited.
At the same time, the contract does not prohibit work on the creation of space weapons, as well as the launch into the Earth orbit of other, less destructive types of weapons. In 2008, Russia and the PRC at a conference on disarmament held in Geneva introduced a joint project on the “Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Use of Force or the Threat of Force against Space Objects”. In June, 2014, a new version of this document appeared, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported about it. According to the ministry, the agreement is ready to be signed by most countries of the world, but its discussion is delayed for bureaucratic reasons.
Information sources:
http://rusplt.ru/world/priyut-dlya-kosmicheskogo-korsara-13519.html
http://eurasian-defence.ru/node/31950
http://www.planetofhotels.com/ssha/orlando/kosmicheskiy-centr-imeni-kennedi
http://univnews.ru/catalog/news/breaking_news/nasa-partners-with-x-37b-program-for-use-of-former-space-shuttle-hangars.htm
Information