Coordinates for the X-37B Hangar at VAFB?

I stumbled onto this YouTube video and and at the end of the video, they store the X-37B at a hangar. What are the coordinnates on Google Earth for this hangar?

www.youtube.com...

AT 01:05, you can see them closing the hangar doors.

And does anyone know which runway they use to land the X-37B on KVBG AFB?
Is it always runway 12 (coming from the ocean) or they would use runway 30 (from inland)?

Even if the winds are from the WEST or NW (meaning NOT against the wind when landing on runway 12), would they still use 12 due to the blocking of the sound barrier? When landing at those kind of high speeds over the water, water helps block the sound barrier. Correct me if I am wrong...

Thx.

Hi Darpa,
I can't tell you what direction they land, but the coordinates of the building (payload processing facility) is located on google earth at 34.746989 -120.607012
Appears to be the same building with the tall brown door, even the 4 brown poles around the building appear to match up.

Yes, that is the same building. You can also tell for sure because it has that big tree growing behind it. The tree is visible in the video.

For the first two X-37B orbital tests, the vehicle was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, with Vandenberg AFB as the primary landing site. Edwards AFB served as a backup landing site, and was not primary only because that would have required flying the X-37B over populated land areas as with the space shuttle missions that landed in California. With the retirement of the shuttle, future X-37B landings may take place on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in order to reduce processing time between flights.

Interesting.

But one thing that wonders me about this, that how does the unmanned vehicle know when to land at Edwards AFB when VBG is not available due to weather?

Is there like a group of controllers from the ground programming its onboard GPS with the coordinates for the X-37B to head to Edwards in case of a backup landing there?

So next time the X-37B lands at Vandenberg, will it always be coming in from the ocean straight-in for runway 12 since runway 30 would tend to land the X-37B over populated area, Lompoc being one of them?

Originally posted by darpa999
Interesting.

But one thing that wonders me about this, that how does the unmanned vehicle know when to land at Edwards AFB when VBG is not available due to weather?

Is there like a group of controllers from the ground programming its onboard GPS with the coordinates for the X-37B to head to Edwards in case of a backup landing there?

So next time the X-37B lands at Vandenberg, will it always be coming in from the ocean straight-in for runway 12 since runway 30 would tend to land the X-37B over populated area, Lompoc being one of them?

edit on 30-6Jun-122012 by darpa999 because: (no reason given)

Though it wouldn't surprise me if the X-37B can read weather data and plan for a backup, I doubt it is right now, they probably just issue a command from the mission control station. As for flights over populated areas... The FAA does not allow UAS flights over populated areas due to understandable concerns and as far as I know this rule has not been changed yet, in a way, these birds are still very experimental.

8.2.5 Flight Over Populated Areas Routine UAS operations shall not be conducted over urban or populated areas. UAS operations may be approved in emergency or relief situations if the proposed mitigation strategies are found to be acceptable.

8.2.6 Flight Over Heavily Trafficked Roads or Open-air Assembly of People UAS operations shall avoid these areas. If flight in these areas is required, the applicant will be required to support proposed mitigations with system safety studies that indicate the operations can be conducted safely. Acceptable system safety studies must include a hazard analysis, risk assessment, and other appropriate documentation that support an “extremely improbable” determination. Additionally, it is the applicant’s responsibility to demonstrate that injury to persons or property along the flight path is extremely improbable. UAS with performance characteristics that impede normal air traffic operations may be restricted in their operations.

www.faa.gov...

reply to post by darpa999


I'm going to guess they have contingency plans for the plane to land in either direction since it is preferred to land into the wind. But most of the time the prevailing wind is from the ocean to the shore, so 12 would be the likely runway.

When the flow is reversed, i.e. from land to the ocean, is when you get those infamous fires in California. The desert wind dries out the land and poof! The Santa Ana winds nearly always mean fire in socal.

Gariac -

If the winds are from the west (from the ocean) or NW, they would land on 30 instead of 12.
Just look at the map. I think you had it the other way around.

reply to post by darpa999


Yes, I have it backwards. (A good thing somebody is awake here.) I have no idea what the prevailing winds were when it landed, but I would bet they were from the ocean to the shore. So I guess they just eschew (rhymes with the word I was going to use) landing into the wind and choose safety of Lompoc instead. Now they land this thing at oh dark thirty when the winds are presumably calmer, so maybe the wind doesn't matter much.

Al this said, I would then guess they always land on 12. If the wind is blowing from land to sea, fine, if not, they just land faster.

I agree that night landings will cause less concern about the surface wind direction. In addition, from watching the videos of the X-37B land, appears to come in pretty fast. To me this would mean the wind direction is less of a driver since they may be landing at 200+ ktas and winds would likely be less than 30 kt which is a big difference in magnitude.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand the orbital vehicles that run a polar orbit (and X-37B 2nd flight did not do this) deorbit on a northeast to southwest trajectory - since they launch heading south and the earth rotates in away that makes the vehicle have a negative easting (west) component.

I understand there may be enough energy and wing area to bank into a landing from a southwest heading and then approach runway 30, but using Edwards AFB as a backup runway would seem unlikely if you land going northwest?

FMI: Polar Orbiting Satellites