Quote from: Liss on 05/05/2014 06:40 pmCan this NOTAM for Vandenberg be related to X-37B landing?QuoteM0104/14 - RUNWAY CLOSED. 07 MAY 14:30 2014 UNTIL 07 MAY 23:00 2014. CREATED: 04 MAY 17:56 2014Nice catch, I bet you are correct.
Can this NOTAM for Vandenberg be related to X-37B landing?QuoteM0104/14 - RUNWAY CLOSED. 07 MAY 14:30 2014 UNTIL 07 MAY 23:00 2014. CREATED: 04 MAY 17:56 2014
M0104/14 - RUNWAY CLOSED. 07 MAY 14:30 2014 UNTIL 07 MAY 23:00 2014. CREATED: 04 MAY 17:56 2014
Oddly enough the NOTAM below is for the warning area (W532) due west of Vandenburg and the restricted area (R2516) right over the base06/013 (A1536/12) - AIRSPACE W532E ACT SFC-UNL. 16 JUN 07:30 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 16:30 2012. CREATED: 15 JUN 18:11 2012andM0295/12 - RESTRICTED AREA 2516 CLOSED SURFACE TO FL250. 16 JUN 08:00 2012 UNTIL 16 JUN 13:30 2012. CREATED: 15 JUN 19:44 2012So the warning area (surface to unlimited) is active the 16th 0730Z to 1630Z and the restricted area (surface to 25,000 feet MSL) is closed the 16th 0800Z to 1330Z. Any passes fit in those times?
I don't have a photo to share, but OPF-1 has a big blue sign on the south side of it now that says "HOME OF THE X-37B". It's hard to tell from a distance (someone at KSC please chime in) but it appears almost as if it were a new vertical door (as in fairing rollout) but I may be very incorrect on this as I have not seen it up close.
(Reuters) - The U.S. military plans to land its secretive X-37B robotic space plane in California on Tuesday, ending a classified 22-month mission, officials said.The exact time and date will depend on weather and technical factors, the Air Force said in a statement released on Friday. The X-37B space plane, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, blasted off for its second mission aboard an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 11, 2012.The 29-foot-long (9-meter) robotic spaceship, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, is an experimental vehicle that first flew in April 2010. It returned after eight months. A second vehicle blasted off in March 2011 and stayed in orbit for 15 months.The military has said the vehicles, built by Boeing, are designed to test technologies, though details of the missions are classified.Last week, the Air Force and NASA finalized a lease agreement to relocate the X-37B program from California to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The military is studying using the space shuttle’s runway for landing, but said the X-37B currently in orbit will touch down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where the previous two missions also ended.