[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'I') don't know, did the shuttle ever "bring anything back?"

[Subjectivist]

BBC has a new report out on this, see link under quote for much longer artical.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') US plane on a top-secret, two-year mission to space has returned to Earth and landed in California.

The aircraft, resembling a miniature space shuttle and known as the Orbital Test Vehicle or X-37B, spent 674 days in orbit around the planet.

It touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Friday morning.

The purpose of the plane remains unclear - a theory that it was taking a look at China's space lab has recently been downplayed by experts.

Air Force officials have only told US media the aircraft performs "risk reduction, experimentation and concept-of-operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies".

[Sixstrings]

Another of Boeing's drones, X45 phantom ray will be the most powerful combat drone in the skies:




Looks like the Pelican was canceled. But a good idea there, a massive unmanned cargo drone:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')oeing Pelican

This behemoth would have been 400 feet long and have a wingspan of 500 feet to accommodate large cargo loads. This plane would use the ‘ground effect’ to fly just above the surface at a height of 20-50 feet.

It was certainly expected to be able to carry huge loads across enormous distances - 1,200 tonnes of cargo across 18,000 kilometres.

It could, however, have also gone airborne if it was required, at a height of 20,000 feet, but would see its range reduced by two-thirds.

Despite its potential use, nothing has been heard of the craft or any prototypes being created since 2002.


http://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/item/38787-the-x-37b-and-four-more/

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'i')nagine what that will do...

[AgentR11]

Another idea.

A nuke or set of nukes, for high orbit or geosync orbit detonation.

The one thing you don't want with your space nukes is to have to worry about reentry accident/discover (since they're illegal.) If you can LAND your orbitting nuclear weapon platform, at will, and at a site of your choosing, or even just have enough flight control to land over some 20,000+ft deep ocean; then you can have your nukes and not be concerned so much with discovery.

I think it needs its payload bay to be open for solar panel usage though, so maybe not... I dunno.
tin foil.... need more tin foil!!!

[Shaved Monkey]

Its mission is to maintain BAU.

[vox_mundi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', 'T')he commonest thing brought back to Earth is old fashioned film. Space based cameras are one of the last holdouts for film. Such cameras are capable of much finer resolution photos than electronic cameras which are limited by the number of photodetector devices in the sensor array.

Using film, you can take high resolution photos of wide areas, and then have those images analyzed by computers and people. In this way you can search an entire country from orbit. The electronic cameras can achieve equal resolution but with much smaller fields of view, limited by the bandwidth required to transmit the images.

[vox_mundi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vox_mundi', 'R')egarding your question of why anyone would want to bring back something - 90% of the satellites up there are military and 50-60% don't belong to us. Many of those foreign satellites have classified 'stuff' onboard. Might be interesting to 'borrow' one from time to time.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vox_mundi', '[')b]What's interesting about the picture at the very beginning is the fact that the techs are wearing SCBA and are carrying an apparatus/box. Why? Is this pre- or post- flight? (probably post)

Radiation monitoring? Gas (liquid helium coolant for superconductor magnets) monitoring? Inquiring minds want to know.

Everything else is airgapped and requires TS//SCI. If you have it you already know where to look.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '[')img]http://fantastic-plastic.com/SPECTREBirdOne-Capture-Main.jpg[/img]

[vox_mundi]

Russia tests 'satellite catcher'
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30097643
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')ussia may be testing a satellite capable of chasing down other orbiting spacecraft, observers say. Such technology could be used for a wide variety of uses, including to repair malfunctioning spacecraft, but also to destroy or disable them.

The Kosmos 2499 satellite separated from the upper stage of its rocket two years ago and then chased it down.

A satellite inspector is designed to sneak up on another satellite and photograph it or eavesdrop on its communications. But the same technology could also potentially be used to disable spacecraft - an anti-satellite weapon.

This year, both America and China have carried out tests similar to that carried out by Moscow. On 28 July, the US Air Force launched an experimental satellite called ANGELS (short for Automated Navigation and Guidance Experiment for Local Space).

The Chinese Shijian 15 satellite seems to be undertaking a similar task to that of Kosmos 2499. Launched on 19 July 2013, it has repeatedly approached and shadowed Shijian 7, an older Chinese satellite. Intriguingly, another spacecraft launched on the same rocket as Shijian 15 may have used a robotic arm to release and then recapture a smaller companion satellite.

[Sixstrings]

Ah.. bingo.. that's the what space shuttle drone is for.

Now we need a "catcher" to go catch Russia's "satellite catcher." And then Russia can make a bigger spaceship to catch our satellite-catcher catcher.