Son of a gun, look what's just been 'found'

[The Inspector]

An unmaned Air Force space plane that spent seven months in orbit is set to return to earth. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is scheduled to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base Northwest of Los Angeles sometime between Friday and Monday, depending on the weather and other factors.

Isn't this the very same X-37B that the Air Force said couldn't be found after it was launched? Perhaps now the program can be given an official name, 'The David Copperfield' program-

[Randy Haskin]

Isn't this the very same X-37B that the Air Force said couldn't be found after it was launched? Perhaps now the program can be given an official name, 'The David Copperfield' program-

I never read where "it couldn't be found". I read a lot of news and blog postings about spotters who were asking where the heck it was, and there was a whole lot of silence in response from the USAF about it.

Of course, everyone in the AF doesn't know everything about what everyone is doing. Given how compartmentalization works in classified programs, it wouldn't surprise me at all if some AF spokesperson legitimately didn't know where it was when asked.

[CAPFlyer]

Isn't this the very same X-37B that the Air Force said couldn't be found after it was launched? Perhaps now the program can be given an official name, 'The David Copperfield' program-

I think you're not reading the entire story. The story was, and has been that AMATEUR OBSERVERS lost sight of the spacecraft for several days at a time as the Air Force maneuvered the craft into different orbital periods and orbital planes throughout the mission. Since the Air Force has been pretty much completely mum about this operation since it's launch, there was no question about whether the USAF knew where it was, it was whether the amateurs could track it and relay that information to any of the interested public following the mission.

[The Inspector]

note to self,
never mind attempting irony and especially ironic humor any more. An apparent waste of time and effort-
Plan mourning for loss of curiosity and speculation over something that's been in space since March and no one wanting to ponder what it's been up to-or if it's so hush-hush why it's landing at Vandenberg and not Edwards or Groom Lake.

[262crew]

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625 ... e-23332312

[jmkendall]

That may answer a little mystery of mine! Awhile back I watched something cross from one horizon to the other in around 3 minutes. No biggie if it was a helicopter. But this object was flying so high that it was impossible to see if it even had marker/navigation lights. And it was being obscured by Cumulus clouds. The interesting thing is that it appeared to come back over the horizon a short while later on an "apparent" reciprocal.

So maybe it was the X-37b! IF it was, that thing can move!

Oh, and nothing without stealth technology gets lost in orbit. I have no personal knowledge of this or any other classified program, but I do hold a "one chuck" ASI. For those that don't know; I'm the guy you see in the AF recruiting commercial that has the capability to move satellites around in the sky......which is not quite as simple as the recruiting commercial makes it seem!