Craig Fink wrote:


Sure they could, launch it on an expendable booster, oops our
satellite
didn't make it to the right orbit, or we're launching a dummy payload
today. The payload shroud comes off in second stage, no one will be
able
to see it. Not a space shuttle, but a smaller one. Invisible onorbit
too.
Put some movable mirrors on it, so that the light from the Sun, Moon
or
Earth is reflected away from the Earth. It's not invisible to aliens,
but
to earthlings it is. The only time it would be visible would be
during
reentry, over the ocean where few people would see it, and wouldn't
know
what they saw if they did.

I presumed 'shuttle' to be something vaguely related to the STS
spacecraft and launcher system.

Secret or obfuscated payloads are certainly possible, and indeed, a
number have been exposed after the fact. A manned one isn't completely
impossible, but having one with anything remotely like the capabilities
of STS would require an ELV larger than what we have in operation
(shuttle-C would only work if we were actually launching shuttle-Cs).
Secret reentry also seems problematic. Re-entering over the ocean
doesn't prevent a glaring IR track easily seen from GEO. I of course am
assuming that the only reason we would build secret spacecraft is to
hide it from major powers, not Joe Sixpack on the ground.

--
Craig Fink
Courtesy E-Mail Welcome @