The X-37B is not only unmanned but also considerably smaller than the better known space shuttles, being only 29 feet long and 15 feet wide. This mini-shuttle was originally planned by NASA and later picked up by the USAF. A second larger craft, the X-37C, is also in the works. This larger shuttle should be able to carry crew and cargo.
Earlier stories in The Register also discusses various aspects of the "secret" mini-shuttle program as well as NASA's shuttle program:
-- NASA saw the craft as a potential "lifeboat" for the International Space Station;
-- The X-37B is supposed to be much more advanced in terms of turnaround time, heat shields, and more than the Shuttle.
-- It is often forgotten nowadays that the Shuttle was originally intended not just for NASA operations from Cape Canaveral, but also for military operations from a dedicated complex at Vandenberg Airforce Base in California;
-- Hopes for out of the X-37B seem likely to focus on the same things the Air Force originally wanted from the Shuttle: mainly the ability to recover horrifyingly expensive surveillance hardware from space for repairs, replenishment of manoeuvring fuel and/or upgrading; and
-- If you want to get out into the wilder speculative realms you could postulate a mission lifting off to retrieve, not a US satellite, but someone else's. The initial launch would be explained as delivery of a normal secret payload, but in fact the spaceplane would lift empty, scoop up its target on one pass and return to land on a "Mission 3B" style profile without ever flying above a hostile telescope or radar station.
And how does the USAF describe the X-37B? Here is what their factsheet says: "The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth."
Other space-faring nations see it a little differently. Quoted in China Daily, Zhao Xiaozhuo, a research fellow of military studies under China's Academy of Military Science of the People's Liberation Army, said "As a superpower, the US has been calling for nuclear disarmament all these years and urged other countries to be more responsible for world peace and safety...But in the meantime, its development of the space plane may lead to an arms race in space." Of course, the Chinese have more and more happening in orbit, from spy satellites to space station missions, so their paranoia is understandable.
So it appears the U.S. has the funds to operate a separate space program with its own shuttles. And now it is moving towards manned shuttles while NASA has no means to assist our astronauts in the International Space Station without the assistance of the Russians. Does this make sense?
Chinese space success has been partly attributed to the combined civilian and military space program. I can only wonder if two pots of money is really better than one, not to say the two are not already mixed. While NASA and the USAF maintain separate launch facilities in Florida, the NASA space shuttle program was often used to launch military satellites.
Maybe in a time of scarce resources, or at least the perception of scarce resources, more should be done to share equipment and even missions. Yes, we want a "peaceful" and scientific NASA space program, but we are only kidding ourselves if we think NASA stands completely separate from our national defense goals. The very existence of NASA is owed to its role in beating our Cold War adversary to the moon, and now we are facing other nations also racing to the moon while NASA seems to lack a meaningful manned mission. And let's not forget the science done by Napoleon when he arrived in Egypt or Darwin when he was aboard the HMS Beagle, a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. It may be time for some new thinking.
Interesting Note: The British-built Beagle 2 was sent to Mars for scientific studies as part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express mission. Unfortunately, ESA lost contact with the Beagle 2 just before it was scheduled to land on the Martian surface.
