Article

2010-04-24 Science & Technology

Behind the Air Force's Secret Robotic Space Plane - Popular Mechanics

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Posted by Besoeker 2010-04-24 08:36|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 Still semi-secret, no details just a ton of vague verbiage.
Only firm details, it's smaller and has a Vee tail.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2010-04-24 11:50|| 2010-04-24 11:50|| Front Page Top

#2 Anti-Grav testbed. The Atlas was a cover.

Posted by Shipman 2010-04-24 12:54|| 2010-04-24 12:54|| Front Page Top

#3 Technology testbed. Air Force never was comfortable with the Shuttle.

Posted by OldSpook 2010-04-24 12:58|| 2010-04-24 12:58|| Front Page Top

#4 I was supporting USAF space programs in the latter 80s when Skylab was flying. To say that USAF found NASA hard to work with - apart from the nature of the shuttle itself - is an understatement.

Posted by lotp 2010-04-24 14:08|| 2010-04-24 14:08|| Front Page Top

#5 Rods from God?

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2010-04-24 14:11|| 2010-04-24 14:11|| Front Page Top

#6 We could have been this far along 20 years ago. The X-20 and X-33 languished and then were killed. We went with the Shuttle which was (at best) a second-class solution.

John Kennedy had enough vision to point us at the moon. No one, no one at all, had enough vision after that about what the space program should be. Imagine what the nuclear Navy would have been like without Rickover. We needed a Rickover-like person at NASA who would have cracked heads and promoted his boys, all the while making sure we had the best space program in the world, and all the while keeping us focused on the real mission: cheap, routine access to space.

No Kennedy, no Rickover, no vision, no space program.

Posted by Steve White 2010-04-24 17:52|| 2010-04-24 17:52|| Front Page Top

#7 I'd hesitate to posit that Obambi has no vision. I just don't think it aligns with ours...

Posted by Frank G 2010-04-24 22:21|| 2010-04-24 22:21|| Front Page Top

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