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Old 09-08-2017, 01:00 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
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Default X-37B, F9 landing video

Hello All,

Today's successful launch (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...1&v=9M6Zvi-fFv4 ) of one of Boeing's X-37B spaceplanes aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 (the first time an X-37B has ridden aboard a Falcon 9) actually benefited somewhat from the USAF-required cutoff of coverage of the second stage's portion of the ascent:

While the coverage of the second stage stopped just after it separated, the on-board camera coverage of the first stage's "flip-over" maneuver, boost-back burn, coasting, re-entry burn, re-entry, landing burn, and touchdown were more extensive than what we usually see. The first stage's ascent was a pretty "lofted" one, for it didn't take long for it to "draw a bead" on Cape Canaveral from high above, as was shown by the camera mounted above the grid fins. The split-screen coverage of the final descent and touchdown at LZ-1 (Landing Zone 1) included a nice close-up of the landing with excellent natural lighting and sea & sky background. Also:

This video includes--beginning at about 6:26--a brief Boeing presentation about the X-37B, which includes inflight and landing views, some of which were shot from on-board during previous X-37B flights. One test (from the previous OTS-4 mission) that was highlighted was that of a new Hall Effect Thruster (a type of ion engine), which was mounted on the rear fuselage of the spaceplane, next to its rocket nozzle. Such an electric thruster could--like the ion drive of the atmosphere-skimming GOCE satellite (see: http://www.google.com/search?source...1k1.7PoeE4ni9wM )--enable the X-37B to operate as a satelloid, orbiting indefinitely at *constant* altitudes far lower than can unpowered satellites.
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