Ever notice how we as a nation we keep returning to old policy controversies? Part of the quaintness of our political duopoly. One such controversy with zombie-like endurance is Ronnie Raygun's program of space based defense. The idea is still alive and costing money. But only the Pentagon knows how much. The political elite in the Washington kabuki theatre is singing the deficit reduction refrain for all their worth. Meanwhile across the river, the US Air Force is building a space plane for which there is
no clear mission. One observer said he personally thinks the orbiter is just "a new toy for geeks in the military". Named the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, it is a remotely controllable rocket-plane hybrid that enter earth orbit, maneuver and return under its own power. The idea of a hypersonic space plane was
considered 25 years ago, but discarded when rocket scientists figured out that much cheaper satellites could do the same job except return a payload to Earth. One possible mission for the space plane is clear: carrying
weapons such as guided bombs or hyperkinetic tungsten weapons (incredibly called "rods from God") into space. But experts discount this possibility, offering the orbiter's small payload (500lbs), and vulnerability to antiaircraft fire during its reentry glide as reasons. The space shuttle, which belongs to NASA, can fit two X-37B into its cargo bay. Still, some experts see its potential as a formidable unmanned "space fighter"--able to dismantle or disrupt multiple enemy satellites in a single mission, land for servicing and re-armament and return rapidly to space. The craft could also ferry various spying equipment into orbit with greater mission flexibility to enhance this nation's global situational awareness.
USAF did not give up on the project, and is getting ready to bring the first X-37B to earth after an eight month mission. Apparently, the Air Force thinks the craft is a "good idea" despite its limitations, since it has ordered a second prototype for testing. The entire program is shrouded in top secrecy, so the cost of the program is publicly unknown. NASA began a joint development program with Boeing in 1999 for $173 million. The project was handed off to the Air Force in 2006. An estimate for a single X-37B launch aboard an Atlas V booster is $100 million. The X-37B is not the first remotely controlled space vehicle to return to a landing from space. The Soviet "Buran" (Blizzard) space shuttle accomplished that feat way back in 1988. After making only one flight, the Russian spacecraft was destroyed in a hanger collapse in 2002. One thing is clear from the longevity of such programs: the US military continues towards extending air superiority into space, risking a new more deadly phase of the Cold War at huge costs.
