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Forum:	Commercial Space - Military Space
Topic:	[Discuss] USAF X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by cspg: [B]A Space.com [URL=http://www.space.com/14163-secret-x37b-space-plane-spying-china.html]article[/URL] claims that the X-37B couldn't observe because it's going too fast relative to its target, Tiangong, - 7km per second. So spy satellites, also traveling at the same speed, can't take pictures of earthly targets? <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]However, the orbits of the X-37B and Tiangong 1 differ greatly — by about 100 degrees — in a parameter called right ascension, which describes where a craft crosses the equator, Weeden said. So the two satellites actually take disparate paths around the globe, with their orbits intersecting just twice per circuit. That means that the X-37B and Tiangong 1 could theoretically approach each other a maximum of two times per orbit, if the timing works out perfectly. And even then, they'd scream past each other at very high speeds — not exactly optimum conditions for a spy mission.[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE>[/B][/QUOTE]
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