- Pacific
The plane has been circling the Earth for the past nine months as a test for the next generation of space vehicles
It looks like a miniature space shuttle, complete with solar panels for power and a cargo bay to carry satellites or scientific experiments into orbit. But unlike the venerable Discovery, Endeavour or Atlantis, the US Air Force's X-37B space plane comes without one crucial element: human astronauts.
The space plane has been circling the Earth for the past nine months and will land some time this week at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Officially known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, it has been flying as a technology testbed for the next generation of space vehicles.
The X-37 project was started by Nasa in the late 1990s as a way of getting into space more cheaply and was adopted by the military a few years later. The first flight was designed to test equipment, sensors and materials in a space environment, with a view to using these in future space-based technologies.
Exact details of the mission, including costs, have been classified by the military, though amateur astronomers have watched the orbits of the X-37B as it has travelled around the Earth since its launch in April.
According to Space.com, the first mission will emphasise the testing of "technologies necessary for long duration reusable space vehicles with autonomous re-entry and landing capabilities". The plane is designed for low-Earth orbits, similar to the civilian space shuttle.
The space plane is around 9 metres long and has a wingspan of 4.5m, compared to the 37m-long and 23.8m-wingspan space shuttle. It can orbit at similar speeds of up to 17,500mph. But, unlike its iconic cousin, the X-37B is designed to stay in space for months at a time before landing, by itself, on a runway. The plane's landing this week will be the US space programme's first attempt at an autonomous re-entry from orbit.
Roger Handberg of the political science department at the University of Central Florida in Orlando told Space.com that the X-37B was a natural extension of the US military's forays into unmanned aerial vehicles, which are increasingly being used in warzones for reconnaissance or to drop bombs. "From the perspective of international observers – especially in space-aspiring states such as China, the X-37B programme just reinforces their view that the US is pushing to gain first mover advantage in rapid response including possible weaponisation of space using this vehicle or a derivative."
The USAF plans to fly another X-37B in the spring. (12.01.2010) http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/dec/01/space-vehicle-earth
"To Achieve World
Government it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism,
their loyalty to family traditions and national identification" Brock Chisholm - Director of the World Health Organization
"A society whose citizens refuse to see and investigate the facts, who refuse to
believe that their government and their media will routinely lie to them and fabricate a
reality contrary to verifiable facts, is a society that chooses and deserves the Police
State Dictatorship it's going to
get." Ian Williams Goddard
The fact is that "political correctness" is all about creating uniformity. Individualism is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of the New World Order. They want a public that is predictable and conditioned to do as it's told without asking questions.
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." Thomas Jefferson