The US Air Force’s Mysterious Space Plane Has Been in Orbit For a Whole Year

The Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane gets more mysterious by the day. Designed to spend up to nine months on unspecified errands in Earth’s orbit, the second copy of the Boeing-made craft, known as Orbital Test Vehicle 2, has now been in space for a year and two days – and is still going strong. The endurance milestone is unqualified good news for America’s space force at a time when its funding and future missions are in doubt. There’s just one thing. We still don’t know exactly what the 30-foot-long X-37B is doing up there.

Since the launch of Orbital Test Vehicle 1 in April 2010, the Air Force has insisted that the X-37 program is a purely scientific endeavour. But analysts say the spacefaring craft, which launches into orbit atop a rocket but glides back to Earth like an airplane, is capable of much more than that. It could be an orbital spy — in essence, a more maneuverable satellite. Or it could be used to tamper with enemy satellites.

With its pickup-truck-size payload bay, the estimated billion-dollar craft could even haul small batches of supplies to the International Space Station. In October, Boeing program manager Art Grantz proposed to build an enlarged X-37C model that could also carry astronauts to the station, filling a gap left by the retired NASA Space Shuttle.

Though unlikely, the X-37B could even function as an orbital bomber. “You could stick munitions in there,” said Eric Sterner, an analyst with the Marshall Institute, “provided they exist.”

The latest rumour has the Air Force extending OTV-2′s time in orbit in order to perform close passes on the new Chinese space station, which has been in orbit since September but does yet have astronauts on board. Some analysts have noted that the X-37′s path nearly intersects with that of the Tiangong station. Others point out that the two spacecraft would pass each other at thousands of metres per second, making useful surveillance impossible. “If the U.S. really wanted to observe Tiangong, it has enough assets to do that without using X-37B,” Brian Weeden from the Secure World Foundation told the BBC.

In any event, the space plane’s impressive endurance can only boost the Air Force’s space credentials at a critical moment in U.S. orbital capabilities. The Obama administration’s proposed 2013-2017 budget plancuts satellites and rockets, and entirely eliminates the office that oversaw the X-37′s development. Meanwhile, Boeing is preparing to shut down its “Building 31″ facility in California, where the X-37s were assembled.

Insiders believe the space plane will safely maneuver into a new line of funding, preserving it even as other space systems wither away. All the same, the Air Force has a strong incentive to demonstrate its space prowess in order to stave off deeper cuts. “We should not be surprised if the Air Force is pushing the envelope,” Weeden tells Danger Room.

The X-37′s efficient design means its performance limits could be farther out than even the most fervent space boosters anticipate. Deftly combining the vehicle’s solar panels and rocket-fuel reserves, Air Force and Boeing operators have refined the space plane’s operations to an art. “It sips fuel like a Prius,” one space insider boats. “It could be on station into April for all I know.”

Doing who-knows-what.

First Medal of Honor: Warfighter Trailer Reveals October 23 Release, Is Crazy Explosive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pXBH6TC-Ojs#!

EA and Danger Close will bring the next Medal of Honor to PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 on October 23, according to a newly released trailer for Warfighter. The clip is light on gameplay, showing mostly the mood-setting vibe of Tier 1 soldier stealth missions capped with some intense violence and a whirlwind of destruction. And that sounds like a pretty good recipe for a modern military shooter, right?

Facebook May Have Read Your Phone’s Text Messages

Let’s take a healthy sodium-dose here, but London’s Sunday Times is alleging that Facebook has admitted to reading users’ text messages. They supposedly read the private SMS messages of users who downloaded the Facebook app on their smartphones.

This was allegedly in preparation for Facebook launching their own messaging service, but it is not known if it still continues today. Or, really, if it happened at all. The Sunday Times article is very scant in the way of evidence, quoting only unnamed sources, and then devolving into a rehashing of every other known privacy concern to pad the article. While it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if it happened—we’ve come to expect this sort of thing as of late—let’s hold off on the torches and pitchforks until we have some more substancial proof. We are reaching out to Facebook for a comment, and will update if we hear back. Then we can light our pitchforks and sharpen our torches. Or something like that.

This Is What the iPad 3 Will Look Like If Leaked Parts Are Real

Chinese gadget site, MIC Gadget, has got its hands on some leaked front and rear plates, plus other bits and pieces, of the supposed iPad 3 and put them together. Unsurprisingly, the franken-gutless-iPad it looks just like an iPad 2, if a tad thicker, complete with a physical home button.

Of course, the leaked parts could be nothing like Apple’s next generation iPad, so take this with the appropriate mountain of salt, but it certainly looks legit. According to MIC Gadget, Apple’s current Smart Cover fits fine, but tight-fitting skins and other third-party cases do not.

Whether or not MIC Gadget is on the money here, we won’t have long to wait to find out, just till 6pm Wednesday. In the meantime, check out MIC Gadget’s electropop-infused video of every leaked part it’s managed to get its hands on below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MzxxqCy7hHQ

First Assassin's Creed III Screens Imply Equal Opportunity Killing, Tree Climbing, Hunting

Some Assassin's Creed III screens have leaked today over at Allgamesbeta.

In them, we see the game's protagonist stalking game, high up in a tree and ambushing what appears to be a Colonial Officer.

At first glace, my thought was that the officer pictured in our top image might be Benedict Arnold, the infamous traitor who, before accepting payment to join the British side, was a Colonial General of some repute.

Whether the man pictured is actually General Arnold remains to be seen.  Much more certain:  ACIII's assassin won't just be killing Red Coats.

As for the other pics:

Tree climbing would seem to be assuming much of the platforming load in ACIII, as 18th Century America wasn't exactly brimming with old-world buildings to scale, such as those seen in the series' previous entries.  So we may have a lead on some of the game's parkour-related tweaks.

As for the deer hunting, your guess is as good as mine.  It's possible the game's hero needs to hunt to regain health.  If so, the world would have to be pretty well-populated with game.  Perhaps hunting works as a means to improve the hero's skills?  Maybe our Native American assassin does some crafting with the pelts / other bits of the animals.  Buck horns as weapons?  Skins as armor?

Assassin's Creed III is scheduled to launch for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC October 30.

Ubisoft Confirms Assassin's Creed III's Setting and Hero, Reveals Box Art

After yesterday's leak(s), Ubisoft goes ahead and makes Assassin's Creed III's setting–the American Revolution–and its tomahawk-wielding assassin official. Today, it released box art for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. Let's take a look, shall we?

It looks like we will indeed be playing as a Native American assassin, going by the cover art that features our new hero, who's about to deposit a tomahawk into the face of a British colonial.

Assassin's Creed III is due October 30, with a full reveal expected next week.

This Looks Like Assassin's Creed III's Native American Hero

It appears that rumors of Assassin's Creed III taking place during the American Revolution and focusing on "the confrontation between British colonists and native Americans" may have been spot on–that is, if new character art rumored to reveal the new hero of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series is accurate.

One thing's for sure. It's cool as hell.

Kotaku reports that it received an early look at Assassin's Creed III promotional art from a Best Buy employee news resource. Set against a snowy backdrop is what appears to be our hero wearing assassin gear mixed with traditional Native American cues. He's armed with a bow and arrow, a pistol and a tomahawk that's shaped like the Assassin's Creed logo. He's even got another pistol and a saber as back-up.

Ubisoft said earlier this month that the next Assassin's Creed game is due on October 30. It will feature an all-new hero and a new setting. The company will officially unveil the game in March.

We've contacted Ubisoft to verify the image's authenticity, but it sure looks authentic from here. The full thing, tomahawk and all, is over at Kotaku.