Discovery News March 30, 2010
Unmanned Space Shuttle to Get Trial Run
By Irene Klotz
As NASA wraps up 30 years of experience flying reusable space planes, the military is preparing to launch an unmanned mini shuttle drone that can stay in orbit for nine months at a stretch, then leave orbit and land itself on a runway.
Launch of the Orbital Test Vehicle, which is about one-quarter the size of a space shuttle orbiter, is planned for April 19 aboard an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The military is vague about what it plans to do with the space plane, but using it to fly astronauts is not among the options.
"The OTV as currently designed is not capable of human transport," an Air Force spokesperson wrote in an email to Discovery News. "The vehicle would have to be completely redesigned for human spaceflight."
OTV is the latest incarnation of a technology development program previously known as X-37 that was scheduled to fly aboard a space shuttle. NASA canceled the flight after the 2003 Columbia accident and transferred the program to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. It then bounced between several military entities before finding a home at the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office, which is overseeing the test flight.
Eventually, Air Force Space Command will decide if the vehicle is suitable for development into an operational system that could serve as a platform for experiments, a base for surveillance, an on-orbit service and repair station, and/or a system to deploy and retrieve satellites, among other uses.
"The range of future missions envisioned for the OTV includes both the ability to deliver payloads into orbit as well as a platform for returnable experiments," the Air Force said, adding that any decision about whether to proceed with developing an operational system wouldn't be made until after a thorough evaluation of the first flight.
The military declined to say where the control center for the Orbital Test Vehicle is located, or how long the debut flight will last. To be considered successful, the vehicle must demonstrate its ability to remain powered and thermally stable while in space, remove itself from orbit, and land, the Air Force said.
Touchdown is expected to take place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with nearby Edwards Air Force Base slated as the backup landing site.
The OTV, which was built by Boeing's Phantom Works, is designed to be refurbished and reflown.
"That is one of the primary attributes of the vehicle," the Air Force wrote. "The program expects to learn a great deal after the first flight about the turn-around time between flights."
The United States has a long history of starting and stopping work on reusable spaceships, its efforts undermined by costs, technical issues and political wrangling.
"It's hard to figure out what, if any, relationships these programs have with each other," John Pike, an analyst with GlobalSecurity.org told Discovery News. "They seem to proceed in fits and starts. Either they are very badly managed and have an absence of adult supervision, or the programs we know about are largely a cover for a classified program we don't know about."
NASA, which has been flying its reusable space shuttle orbiters since 1981, plans to retire the fleet later this year due to cost and safety concerns.
© Copyright 2010, Discovery Communications, LLC
