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Could you elaborate on what you think the current deployment of the X-37 has to do timeline wise with the cancellation of the shuttle program? After Challenger
by avar 10y ago
Could you elaborate on what you think the current deployment of the X-37 has to do timeline wise with the cancellation of the shuttle program?
After Challenger the Air Force cancelled its plan to use the shuttle for satellites and opted instead for more conventional boosters.
I can't remember whether it was after Challenger or Columbia but didn't NASA also stop returning payloads from orbit from safety reasons after one of those disasters?
I'm sure the Air Force is using the X-37 for something, although they're not saying what, but I don't see how whatever it is has to do with the timeline of the cancellation of the shuttle program.
- jessriedel 10y agoI know that the Air Force began publicly working on the predecessor (X-40) in 1998 (between the Challenger '86 and Columbia '03 disasters). Presumably they were working secretly even earlier. Also, the X-37's first orbital flight was in 2010 and the shuttle's retirement was in 2011. But that's all I know, and mine is uninformed speculation. Apologies if I expressed too much confidence.