America’s super-secret space drones – Aftonbladet

In nearly two years, the United States military commissioned an unmanned mini version of the space shuttle patrol around the earth.

Day after day it spins around the planet.

But what the super secret rymddrönaren really doing up there is not known.

Rymddrönaren name is X-37th It looks pretty much like a space shuttle, but is only a quarter of the size and lacks space for astronauts.

And just like the space shuttle, it is built to withstand the re-entry into the atmosphere and land on earth again like an airplane after completed mission.

It was sent into space December 11, 2012 on top of a big Atlas rocket. As had already been up on a 225 days long mission two years earlier.

Longer than ferries

The longest journey with a full sized manned space shuttle lasted for 17 days and 15 hours. But the little rymddrönaren is therefore still up and running, almost two years later.

The reason is including photovoltaics.

– Although it is significantly longer than any other reusable spacecraft that is it is far below what most of America’s satellites are built to withstand years or even decades, said Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor the Navy War College in Newport, to the American space site Space.com.

Military Projects

Rymddrönaren is a purely military project that has taken on since the American space agency Nasa trashed the space shuttle in 2011.

X-37: s existence is well known and it got new publicity the recently passed 600 days in space.

In contrast, very little is known about what it is really doing up there. Initially continued development of the craft without much hush hush. “A platform to test new technologies,” it said then.

But 2009 turned the whole project suddenly classified. The secrecy was complete.

General William Sheldon in the American Air Force said last summer that “Space forces are fundamental for every military operation, from humanitarian operations to armed intervention. Satellites must continuously deployed in space telecommunications, missile warning, navigation systems, space surveillance, and weather services. “

” Works well “

However, he did not answer detailed questions about rymddrönaren.

– I can give you my standard answer about the X-37, he said he Space.com.

– X-37 works fine. I can not tell you what it does but it works fine.