Using the X-37B as a space ambulance?
Researchers have proposed using the Air Force’s X-37B as an ambulance in space.
Halberg said that an effective astronaut taxi should, among other things, be able to stay at the ISS for two years or more at a stretch; be capable of getting people back to Earth rapidly, within three hours or so; impose minimal G-loads on occupants; have the ability to land close to a hospital; and allow patients to lie in a supine position. These requirements all point to a space plane rather than a capsule, Halberg said — meaning SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Boeing’s CST-100 capsule, which are scheduled to start flying NASA astronauts to and from the ISS within the next year or two, wouldn’t make the grade as ambulances.
Another private crew-carrying vehicle that’s currently in development, Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser space plane, is an intriguing option that bears further investigation, Robinson and Halberg said. But their initial concept study focused on the robotic X-37B, chiefly because the 29-foot-long (8.8 meters) military space plane has already racked up millions of miles in orbit, while Dream Chaser has yet to launch.
Makes sense, though once Dream Chaser is flying it will have the potential to provide the same service with far greater capabilities.
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Researchers have proposed using the Air Force’s X-37B as an ambulance in space.
Halberg said that an effective astronaut taxi should, among other things, be able to stay at the ISS for two years or more at a stretch; be capable of getting people back to Earth rapidly, within three hours or so; impose minimal G-loads on occupants; have the ability to land close to a hospital; and allow patients to lie in a supine position. These requirements all point to a space plane rather than a capsule, Halberg said — meaning SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Boeing’s CST-100 capsule, which are scheduled to start flying NASA astronauts to and from the ISS within the next year or two, wouldn’t make the grade as ambulances.
Another private crew-carrying vehicle that’s currently in development, Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser space plane, is an intriguing option that bears further investigation, Robinson and Halberg said. But their initial concept study focused on the robotic X-37B, chiefly because the 29-foot-long (8.8 meters) military space plane has already racked up millions of miles in orbit, while Dream Chaser has yet to launch.
Makes sense, though once Dream Chaser is flying it will have the potential to provide the same service with far greater capabilities.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Boeing could have built an X-37C if they wanted to.
I like the idea of more X-37B’s though. We should have a fleet of them with different capabilities and ready to launch on demand just like our nuclear weapons.
Sierra Nevada actually put their money where their mouth is so it would be great if they got a shot at being an ambulance.
Two years is a long time to tie up the use of a vehicle. It could be better if the Dream Chaser or an X-37 variant was part of the normal mix of suppliers to the ISS. This would provide for 100% uptime, or close to it, while still allowing the companies to make money through servicing more customers through more launches.
> effective astronaut taxi should, among other things, be able to stay at the ISS for two years or more at a stretch; be capable of getting people back to Earth rapidly, within three hours or so; impose minimal G-loads on occupants; have the ability to land close to a hospital; and allow patients to lie in a supine position.
Sounds like extreme requirements creep and/or stacking taxi requirements on top of ambulance requirements and vice versa. Should it have 1000 mile cross range? Built-in intensive care?
There *might* be value in such a vehicle in some extreme circumstances (which haven’t happened yet in the more than 50 years of spaceflight).
NASA would be better off spending money on having multiple manned vehicles at ISS simultaneously, along with independent shelters, and alternate escape pathways.
Adding life support systems to the X-37 might take NASA thirty years if left to their own devices.
@fred, Yeah, that’s my sentiment too.This might be needed in a future when human space flight (in LEO) is many times more common. Today the money for this be better spent on avoiding an emergency. Today a sick astronaut could be returned in a Soyuz.
Soyuze is a rough ride. Dream Chaser might give them a better option soon enough.