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| Science & Technology |
| Photos: X-37B Robot Space Plane Lands |
| 2010-12-06 |
| Posted by:Uleatch Dribble8106 |
| #5 Imagining clamshell doors I would propose a 'snatch'. Doors opened, vessel positioned between an object of interest and the Earth, suddenly illuminated by a ground-based laser the black reentry tiles bear the brunt of the radiation unmarked but the insulation blanket above is singed... ...or blown nose wheel hydraulics in a slapdown landing. What did Pan say he was driving? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2010-12-06 23:42 |
| #4 Hydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide; Most excellent choice in fuels. Spontaneous contact ignition and small amount rather than heavy bulky liquid hydrogen. Toxic however. |
| Posted by: Dale 2010-12-06 18:18 |
| #3 The type of fuel is interesting;"Hydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide". I will have to look those up. I love Hydrogen and would be interested in why the change. The other fuel looks hazardous. Skidmark you are correct. It is curious that the cargo bay doors show discoloration over large area. |
| Posted by: Dale 2010-12-06 18:12 |
| #2 Those suits remind me if some sciFi movie. |
| Posted by: Tyranysaurus Glaitle7046 2010-12-06 07:59 |
| #1 "Significant weathering, or discoloration, can be seen on the spacecraft's upper thermal blanket insulation." Interesting. A burn from a bad re-entry angle? But it's exactly on the payload bay doors. Some on the nose as well though. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2010-12-06 04:18 |