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Old November 17th 09, 12:34 AM posted to sci.space.policy,sci.space.history,sci.space.shuttle
Jorge R. Frank
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Default Military Space Plane vs. Ares 1...which could be operationalfirst?

Jochem Huhmann wrote:
Me writes:

On Nov 15, 7:47 pm, Pat Flannery wrote:
Me wrote:
1. Nope. no rendezvous capability
We don't know that; the rendezvous antennas could deploy from inside the
cargo bay, and it does have RCS and maneuvering engines:http://a52.g.akamaitech.net/f/52/827...mages/h_x37_sc...

Pat

Yes, I do. Also, doesn't have the proper placement of thrusters for
rendezvous/docking.


OK, what's the thing for then? The USAF has been talking about
space-testing (and returning) components, which sounds somewhat reasonable
in itself (especially when you've got components you can't just mount to
the outside of the ISS for obvious reasons). But even this sounds
somewhat like an excuse.


Consider the possibility that the "X" in the vehicle name really is
accurate: it's an experimental vehicle, not directly a prototype for a
particular operational vehicle (which would have a "Y" prefix).