Does anyone know the duration the X-37B will stay in orbit for this test flight?
Launch has moved to the 21st. I'll let Jim describe the reasons.
If the shuttle mission is extended again, could the Atlas V launch be returned to the 20th?
Atlas launch is on a day-for-day slip now with the orbiter landing. Orbiter landing on Tuesday will push Atlas to Thursday.
The 'fat top' 5m PLF makes the Atlas-V-5xx look like a completely different vehicle to the -4xx. It occurs to me that this is very broadly what the -502 would look like if it were to be used to launch a Boeing-Bigelow Orion-Lite.Looking forward to the future...
From the ratio of width to length, the fairing can be determined to be in the "short" configuration. I'm surprised they can fit the X-37 and Centaur in there.
Looks like the fairing only covers the X-37, not the Centaur:http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/100413-f-0000x-101.jpg
What's the stuff lining the interior of the PLF. Sound insulation?