Thursday, April 22, 2010

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) is prepped for launch at a Boeing Phantom Works facility in California.
U.S. Air Force

THIS EVENING, an Atlas V rocket carrying an experimental U.S. Air Force spaceplane is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Not much is known about its mission, but what is known is that the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) was originally the brainchild of NASA before it was taken over by the USAF in 2006 after NASA scrapped the program because of a lack of funding.

Artist concept of the OTV in Earth orbit, as originally envisioned by NASA.
Boeing Phantom Works

Other things that are known about the X-37B is that it is designed to stay in orbit for up to 270 days (or 9 months), receive electricity from a small solar array that will be unfurled from the vehicle once it is in space (as opposed to running on fuel cells like those used on NASA's space shuttle orbiters), test out surveillance and satellite-repair techniques and possibly carry special weapons, most likely nuclear, that it can deploy over targets in North Korea and Iran. Just kidding about that 'special weapons' part... Or am I?

Computer-generated image showing the OTV re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
NASA

At the end of its flight, the OTV will glide in for a touchdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California or the space shuttle’s back-up landing site at Edwards Air Force Base (also in California). What the USAF does next with the OTV remains to be seen. Actually, click here for more details on the X-37B's future.

Attached to a Scaled Composites' White Knight aircraft, the OTV undergoes a flight test in this NASA file photo.
NASA

The OTV undergoes launch preparations in this Boeing file photo.
Boeing Phantom Works

The OTV is shown inside its Atlas V payload fairing during encapsulation, ahead of its April 2010 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
USAF

The OTV is shown inside its Atlas V payload fairing during encapsulation, ahead of its April 2010 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
USAF

The OTV is shown inside its Atlas V payload fairing during encapsulation, ahead of its April 2010 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Boeing Phantom Works

The Atlas V rocket carrying the OTV rolls out to Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on April 21, 2010.
Pat Corkery / United Launch Alliance

A close-up of the X-37B's mission logo on the side of the Atlas V rocket's payload fairing.
Pat Corkery / United Launch Alliance

The Atlas V rocket carrying the OTV rolls out to Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on April 21, 2010.
Pat Corkery / United Launch Alliance

The Atlas V rocket arrives at SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on April 21, 2010.
Pat Corkery / United Launch Alliance

The OTV is seen on a runway during flight tests in this USAF file photo.
USAF

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