Air Force launches unmanned spacecraft

An unmanned U.S. military spaceship that looks like a small space shuttle lifted off Saturday on a secretive shakedown cruise — one that could include the deployment and retrieval of a clandestine payload.

The U.S. Air Force's second X-37B spacecraft blasted off atop a powerful Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, sending a loud rumble across the Florida coast.

Air Force officials said the 196-foot United Launch Alliance rocket performed normally during the early stages of flight. But then, as expected, a news blackout was imposed.

Richard McKinney, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space programs, was a bit cagey in a post-launch statement.

"Launch is a very demanding business and having what appears to be a successful launch is always good news," he said.

McKinney said he was pleased with initial status reports but he also downplayed expectations.

"It is important to remember that this is an experimental vehicle; that this is just the second launch; and that we have just started what is a very systematic checkout of the system," he said.

The X-37B represents an attempt to develop an affordable, reusable spacecraft that can be rapidly readied for launch and prepped quickly for subsequent flights.

Shaped like a shuttle, the orbiter is equipped with advanced heat-shield tiles as well as a state-of-the-art solar power system.

The first X-37B — or Orbital Test Vehicle-1 — was launched from Cape Canaveral last April and made an autonomous atmospheric re-entry and landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in December.

The second X-37B sports a modified landing system that should enable the craft to land in higher winds.

The spaceplanes are designed to remain in orbit for up to 270 days, but Air Force officials indicated the second ship might tally a longer stay in space.

"We may extend the mission to enhance our understanding of the OTV capabilities," Lt. Col. Troy Giese, X-37B program manager for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said in a statement. "Especially since the performance data from the first flight suggest that the vehicle could have gone beyond the 270-day requirement."

The Air Force has been coy about the payloads the spacecraft might haul up. But officials are hinting that something might be aboard the second X-37B.

Said Air Force Maj. Tracy Bunko: "Being able to put an object in space, test it and bring it back to Earth to examine it is a valuable capability for the U.S. Air Force."

Neither the Air Force nor NASA has plans to convert the X-37B into a piloted craft to haul astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Source: [USA TODAY] By Todd Halvorson, CAPE CANAVERAL - FLORIDA, 05.03.2011

Photo: By Craig Bailey, AP
An Atlas 5 rocket blasts off with an unmanned space plane Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Fla.


(6.03.2011)