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back to article Second US 'secret space warplane' to launch tomorrow

The US Air Force is set to launch its second X-37B miniature unmanned spaceplane - the type famously dubbed a "secret space warplane" by the Iranian government - on Friday. The first X-37B following landing at Vandenberg AFB after the inaugural OTV-1 mission. Credit: USAF What's in the payload bay, eh? The USAF Rapid …

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  1. corestore

    Whoa...

    "..such a mission might be used to meddle with (or even snatch and retrieve to Earth, in the case of the Shuttle) someone else's space hardware.."

    In one orbit? Do ye think I came up the Clyde in a banana boat?

    "the objectives of the OTV-2 mission which will follow tomorrow's launch will probably not become known for a long time..."

    Or until the next Wikileaker strikes...

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  2. Luther Blissett

    Bringing it all back home

    Requires a reentry vehicle. In these enLightning times it could be collecting sundry sprites and elves. Which would make a change from pixie dust. But I think not.

    May all their subroutines be reentrant too.

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  3. retromancer
    Alien

    design classic?

    My first thought on seeing the picture was 'did H.R. Giger design the nose cone' - looks like the chestburster from Alien to me...

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  4. E 2

    Is it just me?

    Or are these USA space planes looking more and more like the monster from the Alien movie with every new version?

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    The Mission

    "Disappointingly perhaps, the objectives of the OTV-2 mission which will follow tomorrow's launch will probably not become known for a long time."

    My money is on a rendition flight to the ISS with Bradley Manning on board. And he thinks his current cell is bad....

    PS - can we get a black space shuttle icon?

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  6. Robinson

    Theft

    It can nick other people's top secret spy satellites :p.

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    1. Graham Marsden
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Prior art...

      Blofeld did it first!

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  7. Oninoshiko
    Big Brother

    Title.

    "In the end the Shuttle never flew from Vandenberg on secretive military ghost missions"

    Atleast that's what they want you to think!

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    1. Annihilator
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Chortle

      Given that a shuttle launch is possibly the loudest thing you can imagine (a Who concert maybe breaking the record..), it wouldn't have been that secretive - the residents of Santa Barbara would hear it, possibly even LA! :-)

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      1. Oninoshiko
        Reply Icon
        Coat

        All lies and jests, Still a man hears what he wants to hear, And disregards the rest

        Well, the tin-foil-hatisum was ment in jest, but it is kind of strange to talk knowing that SECRET missions didn't occur.

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  8. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Happy

    Obvious reason for the wings.

    It's the US *air* force.

    Which is still run by assorted fighter jocks.

    It would *never* have got funding without them.

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  9. ScissorHands
    FAIL

    NASA are Idiots

    The really sad story is that the X-37 was going to be the ISS's lifeboat, and somebody would THEN figure out that with some small adaptations you could launch it with crew as well. From a Delta Heavy. Which of could, would not do.

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-105

    I found a photograph of this bird on the Wikipedia, so it would appear that the MiG-105 was more than just a threat--it was an expensive counter move to offset the "threat" of the Dynasoar.

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  11. John 62

    x-37, son of shuttle

    looks like one of the Shuttle's pups. it'll be so sweet when its eyes open, coochie, coochie, coo...

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