Black-hat NASA

Miniature US space plane launched by Pentagon (the black-hat NASA)

Did you know that the US Air Force launched a small, unmanned space shuttle? Neither did I. Few details have emerged about this classified program, dubbed the X-37. But reports in the Christian Science Monitor and elsewhere divuldge some of the broad outlines of the program. The goal is to have a long duration flight (up to 270 days), land in unpowered glider mode like the regular space shuttle, and then have a short turnaround and relaunch time. Such was the goal of the original space shuttle, a goal from which it has fallen woefully short.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0422/Pentagon-X-37-space-plane-to-launch-amid-secrecy