The Air Force’s X-37B is approaching a year in orbit.
The Air Force’s X-37B is approaching one year in orbit.
The ship in space now is on its second flight, and the third total flight of the program.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The Air Force’s X-37B is approaching one year in orbit.
The ship in space now is on its second flight, and the third total flight of the program.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I wish they would propose their X-37C maned crew transport craft. Much slicker then CST-100 – though NASA wants retro Apollo now a days.
It would be interesting to know if the x37c fully utilizes the capabilities of the Atlas V. Six crew may be all NASA would want on any given mission but in the long run, a vehicle that carries the maximum number of crew allowable by the capabilities of the launcher would be beneficial to Boeing’s other potential customers.
it is More involved than Both of your comments.
>..would be beneficial to Boeing’s other potential customers.
What other potential customers? Assuming you could get a launch down to $200M, with 6 folks that’s $33M a person. Hardly a price point thats going to explode maned space or space tourism. Bigelow only wanted 6 people per flight – and they have issues with market size.
…. I wonder what yo could do with a X-37 to expand it? it obviously has all the systems needed for a successful mini shuttle. Which is most of the high cost parts of a bigger shuttle. It can’t get to much better on the nose of a Atlas before you reach the atlases limits – but you could expand it to add internal upper stage capabilities? I’E if it used the First stage of the Atlas (or another booster) and absorbed upper stage delta-V duties, at the least you could save a lot of expense over the expendable stage. Shuttle saved a mint in direct per launch costs with the orbiter that way. (Not that it maters when you have NASA overhead adn demand for high costs, and only fly a couple times a year.) such a craft would be a lot more marketable then a Deamchaser.
You know the X-37B is a real example of why I roll my eyes and lose my patience when NewSpace fans talk about how rapidly NewSpace companies are in developing cutting edge technologies. While SpaceX, and Blue Origin, and a long list of others spend a decade struggling to redo half century old designs with no real improvements, heres Boeings little quite project to do a dramatically more advanced mini shuttle. Much more advanced technology.. Fully automated. Spending a year in orbit doing various high energy maneuvers in orbit. No muss, no fuss. Just works.
This looks like a recoverable satellite, autonomous operation and auto recovery with long cycles in the sky.
That’s not a bad idea. It would allow rapid upgrades, not require the heavy upfront fuel loads for a decade of service, equipment designed for decades of operation without servicing, etc, but I’m not sure the DOD is interested in that versus just parking a bird up there for a decade or two.