The secret X-37 space plane is about to fly

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... The 29-foot spacecraft resembles a mini space shuttle and will launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida between about 7:50 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern time atop an Atlas V rocket. (Click here for the webcast.)

Other than the launch itself, which Air Force officials jokingly concede they couldn’t keep secret even if they tried, most of what the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle program is all about is classified

...Some details emerge
Broadly speaking, the program is expected to test the Air Force's ability to launch the spacecraft , keep it up for months at a time, return it to earth, and fly again. The length of its visit to space appears central to the mission.

The X-37 is able to fly for as long as 270 days powered, the Air Force hopes, by a combination of lithium ion batteries and a set of solar panels. Air Force officials will want to see how well the lithium ion batteries onboard stand up to the long deployment. The batteries are “recharged” by a set of solar panels inside the spacecraft that will emerge once the craft has deployed from the rocket that will carry it into space...
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0422/Pentagon-X-37-space-plane-to-launch-amid-secrecy
 
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I hope this is true. A quick turnaround space vehicle would be an enormous benefit to our space program both civilian and military. I assume that the X-37 will normally operate unmanned? If this was a manned mission, I think they would have mentioned it.

I wonder if one of the first missions will be to replace some of our GPS satellites?
 
Well they sure launched something. I could see it from my front yard. It was also on the local news.
 
Central Florida News 13 has video on their website now.
http://www.cfnews13.com/Space/DestinationSpace/2010/4/22/atlas_launch.html"

They actually had a reporter out at Cape Canaveral covering the launch. Were any national news organizations out there covering the story?
 
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:smile: And it would seem there is nothing more to be said. I suppose that is to be expected given that we're not supposed to know anything about it!