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X-37b US Air Force

In the upshot of an emergency aboard the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts take refuge inside a Russian Soyuz capsule that remains docked at the station. These vessels have been the simply means of getting to and from the ISS since the Space Shuttle was discontinued several years ago. While other vehicles are in development, none of them could effectively serve as a "space ambulance." The best archetype for that design might exist the mysterious Air Forcefulness X-37B space plane.

The Soyuz programme is a reliable way of reaching the ISS and returning habitation, only it's a little defective in finesse. Reentering the Earth's temper in a Soyuz exposes passengers to at least four.5G of strength, and the parachute-aided landings are surprisingly violent. A study of Soyuz "hard landings" showed that minor injuries are sustained by astronauts approximately 40% of the time. Now, imagine if an astronaut were injured on the ISS. Sending them downwardly in a Soyuz could make the situation much worse.

Even the vehicles beingness developed by companies like SpaceX and Boeing use like capsule designs that land with parachutes (though SpaceX is likewise toying with propulsive landing). They might exist gentler, but the best mode to send an injured astronaut would be with a space plane. Ideally, transporting an injured coiffure member dorsum to World should include minimal G-loads and take no longer than iii hours.

The Air Strength'southward semi-secret space plane is currently not suitable as an astronaut ambulance, merely a individual firm called Sierra Nevada is using the pattern as inspiration for its Dream Chaser space plane. The Ten-37B launches attached to a rocket and glides in for a landing, just like the Space Shuttle used to. This vehicle is currently in the middle of its fourth mission, which began in May 2015. This vehicle has logged millions of miles in infinite, proving that information technology's an constructive blueprint. 1 notable deviation is that Dream Attorney would be a piloted craft, whereas the X-37B is entirely remote.

x-37-landed

It's smaller than y'all think.

At the aforementioned time, onetime astronaut Stephen Robinson is promoting the idea that the Air Force could repurpose the X-37B design as an orbital rescue craft. Like the Dream Attorney, it would need to exist a manned vehicle with a pilot as a backup for automated systems. There would be room for two passengers in addition; one patient and a medical officeholder. Robinson suggests that the revamped 10-37B could launch to the ISS carrying cargo, then remain docked for use in the event of an emergency.

Both the reimagined X37B and the Dream Chaser are simply hypotheticals right now, with no firm plans to begin construction. However, as human spaceflight accelerates, we volition somewhen need a space plane vehicle capable of softer landings.