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The X-37 is, or was, slated to complete orbital testing at the end of 2003. Given the recent Shuttle explosion, I think the testing may be pushed back. However, this point is a bit immaterial as there seems to be no current information on the status of the X-37 demonstrator.
The demonstrator is 120% the size of the X-40A and is a test bed to demonstrate over 30 different technologies for the next generation of RLV's. It fits inside the Shuttle bay, and is unpiloted. It is also designed to stay in orbit for 21 days.
Does anyone have any information? I have tried the NASA website, however, they have taken down the page that contained any information- I was able to get a google cache, but the information is limited, and I think out of date.
It has been discussed in other areas that the X-37 will also be the first military space plane, as it meets most of their requirements.
Here is a link to background info:
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I found this so far:
https://www.armyspace.army.mil/news....HL_Mark
Boeing Wins $301-Million Contract From NASA To Finish Space Plane
Vehicle will test technology that may lead to a replacement for aging space shuttle.
By Associated Press
Hoping to develop technology to replace its aging space shuttles, NASA said Tuesday that it has awarded Boeing Co. a $301-million contract to complete the X-37 space plane.
Boeing Phantom Works said it would complete its X-37 approach and landing test vehicle and conduct flight tests as part of the Space Launch Initiative, a $4.8-billion NASA program.The plane, 27.5 feet long with a wingspan of 15 feet, is in final assembly at the Boeing Phantom Works X-Vehicle Assembly Facility in Palmdale.
"The X-37 is a technology demonstrator, just proving certain technologies that will ultimately lead to a replacement for the space shuttle," said Bill Cole, a spokesman for Phantom Works, which is based in St. Louis.
With the contract, Boeing will complete the assembly of the unmanned X-37 and conduct a flight test in April 2004.
The contract also initiates a design for another X-37 long-duration orbital vehicle, scheduled to be tested in July 2006.
When fielded, the unmanned and autonomously operated X-37 will be the only X-vehicle capable of conducting continuous on-orbit operations for as long as 21 days.
The vehicle also will serve as a test bed for approximately 30 airframe, propulsion and operation technologies, such as a high-temperature thermal protection system.
So 2006 is the date...
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10 things we know about the secret X-37B space plane
https://www.livescience.com/x37b-secret … facts.html
Just observed the Chinese spaceplane and its CZ-2F r/b in a still bright twilight sky. Spaceplane about mag +1.5 to =2, r/b somewhat fainter.
https://twitter.com/Marco_Langbroek/sta … 6111771654
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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Lofts Secretive US Military Spaceplane
Prior to launch, which took place Thursday after several earlier delays, the X-37B’s most recent mission launched in May 2020, spending a record-setting 908 days in orbit. The vehicle’s mission came to an end in November 2022, with the X-37B returning from space and gliding to a runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility.
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Falcon Heavy Launches Space Force’s Mysterious X-37B Space Plane
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They went to Falcon-Heavy because there aren't any ULA Atlas-5's available, and the new ULA Vulcan/Centaur isn't flying yet.
The NASA "Tufroc" tiles are flying on X-37B at the nosecap and leading edges, where NASA's older black shuttle tile were inadequate. On the shuttle, those surfaces were the slow ablative carbon-carbon.
Tufroc is a two-piece tile. The surface piece is denser and stronger, with a 3000 F exposure capability, because it is a ceramic matrix/carbon fiber reinforcement composite. This is mechanically attached to the substrate piece, in turn bonded to the airframe with RTV just like the old shuttle tiles.
The substrate is a better low density ceramic than the older NASA shuttle tile ceramic, but it works the same way: low thermal conductivity and low density driven by high void fraction. It's a bit stronger and has a somewhat higher service temperature than the older ceramic.
Tufroc is good enough for stagnation zone service coming back at about 8 km/s from low Earth orbit, but not for higher-energy orbits with speeds above 10 km/s. It cools by re-radiating the received heating as infrared back to the surroundings. But the plasma sheath has gone opaque to infrared by about 10 km/s entry speeds. That cuts off your cooling-by-reradiation. Only ablatives work from there on up.
GW
Last edited by GW Johnson (2024-01-05 11:56:18)
GW Johnson
McGregor, Texas
"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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Of course, the real reason was due to Russian built engines that Pratt n Whitney was to be able to produce. They were not able to fore fill this part of the ability to produce a copy.
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Dream Chaser Build Timelapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TesrNdfbMJ8
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RLV-TD aka Pushpak LEX-02 the Reusable Launch Vehicle–Technology Demonstration Programme is a series of technology demonstration missions by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) re-usable launch vehicle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg6QqOdbaik
Shenlong literally 'divine dragon' is a Chinese reusable spaceplane only a few pictures have appeared since it was revealed, there is speculation it is linked to the military and that China's spaceplane is unmanned, state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported in 2017 that China planned to launch a reusable spacecraft in 2020 designed to "fly into the sky like an aircraft"
In 2023 the spacecraft launched for the third time
https://www.space.com/china-space-plane … -37b-delay
Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2024-03-23 07:01:17)
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